


A Rose By Any Other Name

by SiaNoelle



Category: RWBY
Genre: Abduction, Abuse, Adam if he was actually unstoppable, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Feeding, Humiliation, I didnt plan any of this, Kidnapping, Manipulation, No redemption, Painful Sex, Power Imbalance, Pregnant Sex, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rough Sex, Sexual Slavery, Stockholm Syndrome, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unprotected Sex, Vaginal Sex, add tags as i go i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:20:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 36,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24151948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiaNoelle/pseuds/SiaNoelle
Summary: After being captured by the White Fang, Ruby becomes the personal slave of Adam Taurus.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

Ruby rolls to her side, a throbbing pain radiating from her temple. Groaning softly, her eyelashes flutter before she brings a hand up to her face. Sluggish, she struggles to sit up and gather where she is. Opaque darkness surrounds her. Blinking a few times, Ruby feels around herself blindly and her hand bunches what she assumes to be a sheet underneath her. As her eyes adjust, she notices something next to her and reaches out towards it. She comes in contact with something, some sort of fabric... Ruby furrows her brows. Was she in a tent? Ruby wracks her brain, trying to remember how she got here. What had she been doing? There was Weiss and then there was...

Ruby gasps, moving to grab her weapon. Nothing. She notices the absence of it from where it should have been strapped to her back. Ruby surges forward, patting the floor around her for Crescent Rose. Her search is fruitless. Scrabbling to her feet she trails along the edge of the tent until her fingers poke through a seam. Biting her lip, the young girl curls her hand around the entrance to the tent, bracing herself. Slowly she lifts the flap just a bit-

The tent front is ripped from her hand, flipping open, and the harsh glare of a light blinds Ruby. Wincing, her eyes squeeze shut and her head aches once more from the sudden exposure. Retreating, Ruby shields her eyes from what she assumes to be a flashlight. A dirty trick. It must be her captor at the other end-

"Awake now, Ruby?"

Ruby freezes, forgetting to breathe. Until recently, she wouldn't have been able to recognize the voice. After being ambushed, however, Ruby could never forget the man who had attacked her. Standing straighter, she faces him head-on or at least the best she can with her eyes closed.

"Adam Taurus. Where is Weiss?" She demands in an even tone.

Ruby's memory is fragmented. First, she remembers the White Fang soldiers pouring in, outnumbering Ruby and Weiss, then Weiss kneeling and clutching on to Myrtenaster exhausted from the onslaught, and then finally the blow to Ruby's head which had put her into a painful blackout. Ruby starts to open her eyes slowly, trying to figure out where Adam is standing.

"The Schnee brat is getting what she deserves." Ruby is startled by the venom in his voice.

Taking advantage of the calm situation, Ruby lunges forward, hands grabbing for anything, but the light suddenly disappears, leaving her blind again. Eyes unable to adjust quickly enough, a firm grip grabs her hood, hauling her back inside the tent. Ruby lands with a thump that knocks the breath out of her. Unable to speak, the flap to the tent flutters closed, surrounding Ruby in darkness.

"Stupid girl. Realize the situation you're in. You have no chance against me." Adam spits from somewhere in front of her.

"I won't let you get away with this!" Ruby snaps back, sitting up.

An unseen force clips her in the chin, giving Ruby whiplash as her head crashes back against the ground. She sees stars for a moment, dazed.

"You?" Adam laughs shortly. "What can you do? You're all alone. No one will be able to find you or the Schnee bitch."

Ruby sits up weakly, refusing to go down.

"My team will look for me. You won't be able to hide." She slurs, leaning on her arm.

A hand grips her chin, scaring Ruby. She jumps, a laugh coming from the darkness.

"Who says you're living that long?" There’s a horrible confidence in his voice.

"Huh?" Ruby sputters, brain working too slowly to think of a reaction.

The hand on her chin grips her throat, squeezing tighter and tighter until she cannot breathe. Ruby thrashes, trying to escape, but the fog in her head makes connecting the thought to action too difficult. Her body is as heavy as lead; she is so tired. Her fingers tearing at the hand around her throat weaken, slipping and landing uselessly beside her. Ruby convulses once before feeling darkness come closing in on all sides-  


A high-pitched gasp comes from her chest before cutting off into a bout of uncontrollable coughing. Ruby wheezes, clutching her bruised throat, sucking in air so fast the world begins spinning around her. Blinking, her vision clears, and the muddled form of Adam in front of her starts to take form.

"What, ugh, are you doing!" Ruby yells hoarsely.

Adam forces her skirt above her waist. She squirms as the cold air raises goosebumps on her bare skin. Ruby is too slow in reacting and Adam drags her underwear from around her hips. Ruby feels him slip them over her knees and then leave them entangled around her calves. Startled, the young girl kicks her legs out blindly, the tent too dark for her to see what Adam is doing. She feels the hard grip of Adam's hands catch her ankles and spread her legs easily. Her underwear stretches and rips but it’s quickly forgotten. Ruby flushes from her neck upwards, feeling the warmth of Adam's body pressing against her pelvis. He was so close she could hear him breathing right above her. Thrusting a hand out to shove him away, it was easily captured and slammed to the floor above her head. Ruby winces, the pain distracting her from Adam's next move. A loud yelp comes from her mouth when she feels a finger rubbing at her slit. Adam's punishing hand comes around her throat once more.

"I vowed to destroy all that Blake loves. I've already taken out the blonde and the Schnee, and once the White Fang is finished with you, you'll wish I had just killed you." Adam was chuckling, mocking her.  


Ruby chokes at what Adam had suggested, but also in terror. The blonde? Does he mean Yang? Tears begin to build up in her eyes as Ruby half-heartedly struggles against Adam.

"Don't touch me!" She yells, legs flailing on either side of his body.

Adam ignores her, removing his hand to move it back between her legs. A small flame of rage flickers to life within Ruby filling her with a sudden burst of strength. Gritting her teeth, Ruby draws back her only free arm and swipes in front of her, hand landing solidly against skin. The sound of the slap echoes for a moment, Ruby's chest heaving and Adam's movement ceasing. The grip around her trapped wrist tightens all of a sudden, the pain forcing Ruby yelp. Adam grabs Ruby's cheeks, squeezing so hard her teeth begin to ache. Lifting her head upwards, and despite Ruby being unable to see his face, the hot breath from his mouth as he yelled at her was evidence of how much she had angered him.

"If you won't behave then I'll force you to." With a noise of disgust, Adam throws her body away from him, Ruby's head once again meeting the hard ground.

Ruby is reminded of her old head injury as it throbs sharply. Stunned by the pain, she can’t fight as Adam easily uses her pinned arm to flip her body over. He twists her arm behind her back, forcing it and the top half of her body into the floor. Grunting into the sheet, Ruby tries to struggle to no avail. The constant throbbing behind her eyes is debilitating, the pain taking her in and out of awareness. Distracted from Adam's actions Ruby takes no notice of what he is doing behind her.

Ruby groans softly as Adam pushes two fingers inside of her. The feeling is foreign and strange. It’s hard for her to focus on it, though. Ruby cries out sharply when Adam thrusts his cock into her. She is overwhelmed with nausea. She feels the head of his cock push against her cervix, pushing harder until his hips are finally flush against hers. The pressure is debilitating. Adam lets out a groan above her, not waiting for her to get used to his size. Already panting, Ruby grunts each time he pushes back in, her legs shaking with agony. It's too much; her entire body is quivering. Adam lays his body on top of hers, trapping her underneath him. With every thrust, she hears his harsh breathing, the erotic sounds warming her cheeks.

"Ugh, n-no-", she pants.

Ruby is too shocked to think. She doesn't want to acknowledge that her first time is with someone she barely knows, while her body is trapped and face pressed to the floor. Scared and alone, the young girl truly feels as if she is at the mercy of this terrifying leader.

"No, please." She begs, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

Adam grabs her hair in response. Ruby screams, alarmed by his sudden violence.

"Do you understand now?! No matter how much you beg the only thing you'll receive is pain. Just like the rest of us! I'll make sure you understand." His promise is terrifying.

"Please, please, I'm s-sorry!" Ruby blubbers.

She hears the low growl in the back of his throat and turns her face away the best she can manage. Adam finally releases her entirely. Her scalp stings and wrist has gone numb. Granted a moment of rest, Ruby continues to let out small whimpers as she slowly moves her arm back into a comfortable position, gritting her teeth as her shoulder aches from the strain that was put on it. Using both hands, Adam moves Ruby's hips higher before plunging back inside of her warm, tight depths. Hips now flush against his, the angle from which Adam enters allows him to hit the deepest parts of Ruby easily. Clasping both hands around her mouth, Ruby _screams_ from both pain and sheer terror. The agony of being ripped open to fit Adam inside of her had been a shock but begins to ebb away as she shuts down. The violation and feeling of another man forcing himself so deep within her own body are tearing Ruby apart.

"S-stop, it hurts!" She wails.

Adam pumps in and out of her fluidly now. Ruby shivers around him, weakly using her arms to raise her face from the floor. Her mouth hangs open, whimpers and pleas falling out of it. She doesn’t feel as if she is in the right body. Ruby desperately wants this hurry and be over, but Adam isn’t done yet.

"How does it feel to be used for only your body?" Adam snarls behind her, his fingers digging painfully into the flesh of her ass.

Ruby feels a spike of lust pulse in her. She feels so open and exposed to this horrible man who is learning about Ruby more intimately than any other person in her life.

"I-I can't-", she gasps, body shaking as something inside her begins to coil.

With every thrust from Adam, it only twists further, retreating further and further within her. But there is no place Adam couldn't reach inside of her body, relentlessly pounding against her cervix until Ruby feels herself come apart. Loud, lewd groans spill from her mouth. Startled and embarrassed, Ruby bites down on her knuckles, trying to keep herself from unraveling entirely. Adam makes no comment, his own breathing changing into a grunting, slowing his thrusts for a reason Ruby doesn't realize until he pulls out. The motion hits her with a wave of nausea and the girl collapses. Her body convulses in short bursts and sweat drips down her temple.

Adam moves around her but Ruby is barely conscious. The throbbing in her head is only made dull by the endorphins softening the pain. A stabbing ache from deep inside her pulses. The flap to the tent is thrown open and pale moonlight lightens the room. Ruby drags her eyes over to the entrance, watching as Adam steps out. He appears unfazed despite having committed such a heinous act. A moment later Adam is approached by another unrecognizable figure. Ruby's vision swims, body begging for rest. Her eyes are drifting closed when Adam's voice startles her back into reality.

"Sounds like the Schnee heiress will be bursting with pups by the morning, Ruby."

Horrified, Ruby summons the last of her strength, sitting up and glaring at Adam.

"Let, Weiss, go." She pants.

"Let her go? I'm not the only one with a grudge."

Ruby feels fear creep into her body hearing the dark tone in Adam's voice.

"Someone has to pay." He continues, sounding deadly.

"I'll do it!" Ruby bursts, desperate.

Adam laughs.

"What can you do? You're weak and not even a decent fuck. Who will attend to the rest of the White Fang? No, you’re mine to break."

Ruby stares back, too shocked to speak. She wasn't even aware she was crying until she hiccupped.

"Just leave us alone." She whispers.

"Not likely." Adam scoffs.

Defeated, Ruby doesn't know how to reply. Adam turns his back to her, finished with the conversation. Reaching down to adjust her skirt, Ruby pulls it down the best she can having lost her underwear before rolling up onto her feet. The sharp pain in her abdomen doubles her over. Ruby wants nothing more than to lie down and sleep as if this was nothing more than a bad dream, but she is a Huntress and she can't give up now. Taking a deep breath, Ruby feels for her aura, gathering it and channeling her semblance. In an instant, she is out of the tent and in the clearing ahead of Adam. Without waiting, she runs, stumbling only when the jostling of her body sends aches through her. She is still very raw from Adam's abuse.

"No!"

Behind her, she hears Adam yell, encouraging her to fight past the pain. Ruby looks around desperately, searching for Weiss.

"Weiss! Weiss where are you!?" She yells.

Gunshots fire behind her, bullets whizzing past Ruby as she frantically dodges to the side. Hearing footsteps, Ruby glances to see Adam nearly upon her. Fear plunges through her. He's fast. Shaking off her horror, Ruby realizes that emerging from the tents around her were still more Faunus. Without her weapon, she doesn't have a chance of defending herself. Still, her teammate, her friend needs her. From the corner of Ruby's eye, she spots a figure rushing at her. Stopping in her tracks she narrowly avoids a White Fang member trying to tackle her. However, a heavy blow hits her in the back, knocking her to the ground. Ruby feels the wind get knocked right out of her. Coughing, she rises up onto her forearms before a boot plants itself square on her back.  


Adam stabs his sword into the dirt next to Ruby's face.

"Where do you think you're going?" Adam taunts her.

Ruby grits her teeth. Adam pulls his sword free, touching the blade to the edge of her face. Ruby doesn't dare move, too afraid of the volatile man.

"I think that's enough fun for one night." He warns.

Stepping off of her, Ruby hears Adam sheathe his sword.

"Lock her back up." He orders, walking away.

Ruby looks around in a panic, struggling to get to her feet. Two White Fang members instantly approach her, grabbing ahold of her arms. Ruby tries to fight but she is pathetically outmatched and too tired. They haul her to her feet, dragging her deeper into the camp. Twisting and yelling Ruby tries to wrestle away but instead, she is forced down to her knees as they tie her wrists behind her back. Ruby tries to shake her head when they move to tie a gag around her mouth, but the movement makes her nauseous. One of the White Fang members holds onto her head so the other can gag her. Ruby flexes her fingers anxiously. The binds are tight and she isn’t strong enough to wiggle a wrist out of them. Pushing her onto the ground, her feet are quickly shackled as well. Ruby looks between the two White Fang members trying to figure out what they planned to do with her next.

“Take her back to the tent and leave her.” The one says to the other before walking away.

Ruby can’t resist as the remaining member hauls her over his shoulder and carries her back to the tent she awoke in. The jostling of her body makes her head throb. The White Fang member dumps her onto the floor in a heap, leaving the tent immediately after. Ruby sniffs, tears leaking from her eyes and dripping into her ears. She strains her ears but can’t hear anything outside of the tent. Despite her fear, she feels her body starting to fall asleep quickly. Her aura isn’t burned out quite yet, but she worries it will be soon if she continues to sustain injuries. Still, being bound and unable to move her limbs makes her body ache more. As uncomfortable as it is, she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Deciding to sleep and fight another day, Ruby closes her eyes and tries to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby wakes up to the sound of voices outside of the tent. Her mouth aches from sleeping in a gag and she struggles to get herself in a sitting position. Now that sun has risen, Ruby is finally able to see that she is indeed in a tent with only a sheet on the floor. The voices are drawing closer, drawing her attention, but their shadows don’t appear until they are standing outside of the tent.

“Just see if she’s still sleeping.” Ruby doesn’t recognize the voice as Adam.

The tent flap opens and a White Fang member peeks their head inside.

“Yeah, she’s awake.” They call back over their shoulder.

The White Fang member steps into the tent and walks towards Ruby. She starts squirming, trying to scoot backward. Ruby turns her head away when they reach for her, but they simply grab her hood and drag her to the entrance. Before she has a chance to do anything, Ruby is lifted and thrown over someone’s shoulder. She grunts when a shoulder digs into her stomach but it’s muffled by the gag. Squinting at the sun’s bright rays, Ruby looks around her and sees various members of the organization tearing down the tents and loading them into boxes. She searches for Weiss among them and is disappointed when she doesn’t see her. Ruby feels the man underneath her grab onto her waist and squirms, but her protests are ignored. She is dropped next to several crates and grimaces as her bones protest at being handled so roughly. Ruby struggles to move herself into a sitting position and her muscles ache from being trapped in one position for too long.

Looking up, she sees Adam Taurus walking over to her. Ruby draws her knees up to her chest. The memories of last night are vivid in her mind. She can still feel the ghost of his hands on her hips and a twinge of pain reminds her of what he’s done. Ruby notices he’s flanked by two other intimidating members of the White Fang. Both are tall and muscular; Ruby wouldn’t want to fight them on a good day. Adam smirks at her reaction and stops in front of her.

“Did you sleep well Ruby?”

Ruby narrows her eyes in response. She makes a retort through the gag but her words are incomprehensible. Adam jerks his head and one of the members walks over to her. Ruby shrinks away from them but is unable to go far. They untie the gag and Ruby rubs her sore and chafed mouth with her bound hands.

“Where’s Weiss?” She demands as soon as she can speak clearly.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Adam taunts her.

Ruby bristles.

“If you don’t let her go I’ll-” Ruby starts, heated.

“You’ll what?” Adam interrupts her. The smirk is gone.

He walks closer to her and kneels in front of Ruby. Ruby leans into the crates behind her, wanting to be as far away from this repulsive man as possible.

“What could you possibly do? You can’t even defend yourself.” Adam challenges her.

Ruby stares back at him, anger growing steadily.

“Your life and the Schnee’s life belongs to me now. And you will spend the rest of it paying back all that you’ve taken.”

“You’re the worst!” Ruby bursts, raving. “The White Fang shouldn’t be used for violence! You’re nothing but a terrorist!”

The White Fang members behind Adam take a step forward, but he raises his hand to halt them. Ruby’s eyes flicker between them but Adam catches her attention once more.

“And what do you suggest Ruby? That we all hold hands and ask the humans nicely to treat us as their equals?” Adam shakes his head. “You’re just a child. You clearly can’t understand what is at stake and what it will cost to achieve a world where the Faunus can be themselves.”

Ruby shifts unsure of how to respond to Adam’s calm reasoning.

“Still”, she protests, “Attacking us accomplishes nothing for the White Fang. It’s just your own grudge!”

Adam’s hand tightens into a fist. Ruby knows she’s struck a nerve but it’s too late to be apprehensive.

“Blake knew the consequences of leaving.” He grinds out.

“Do you think this will change her mind?! She’s not like you!” Ruby exclaims.

Adam grabs the front of Ruby’s shirt, scaring her.

“Blake ran away because she was scared of change. She’s a coward who couldn’t see the bigger picture.” Adam shakes his head. “I made a mistake then, letting her go, but not now.”

Ruby can’t hide her fear from showing on her face. The implication in his words is clear and only shows that Adam is not human. She holds her tongue though, knowing that if she dared to say anything of the sort he would remove her head from her body in an instant.

“I won’t kill the Schnee heiress. She has more value alive than dead.” Adam continues, releasing Ruby and standing up.

Ruby looks up at him in surprise.

“You, however, it makes no difference.” Adam draws his sword.

Ruby freezes, staring at his blade in disbelief and horror.

“Wait!” She bursts, twisting forward in an attempt to stand.

Stuck on her knees, Ruby sits up, hands held up in defense. Adam pauses, staring at her.

“What are you planning on doing to her? Whatever it is, I promise you don’t want to do it. She’s just as innocent as anyone else.” Ruby pleads, looking at the other two members in desperation.

“No human is innocent.” Adam snaps bringing the sword closer to her.

Ruby leans back, the words spilling from her mouth quicker than she can process them.

“But the White Fang doesn’t have to kill people to make their point. And when the public learns about how the White Fang is holding Weiss captive you won’t be able to move freely. All of the Faunus will suffer. Let her go, please. I promise I’ll do whatever you ask, just please.” Ruby begs.

Adam scoffs. Ruby looks nervously at his sword as he waves it in frustration.

“Don’t pretend to be concerned about the White Fang. You’ll say anything to protect yourself but can you actually pay for humanity’s crimes against the Faunus? You couldn’t repay what the Schnee family alone has done to- ”

“Just give me a chance!” Ruby yells, trying to gesture but her bound hands only make her look foolish.

Adam pauses. At this point, Ruby will say anything to save her life. She just needs time and surely she can think up something that could satisfy him. At his silence, Ruby looks between the three men in front of her, worrying she may have angered them.

“J-just give me a chance to prove it. If you kill me, Weiss will never cooperate with you. I promise to listen so...” Ruby trailed off.

“Fine then.” Adam agrees after a moment and sheaths his sword.

Ruby’s eyes snap to him in disbelief. There has to be a catch, though.

“You can aid our cause and “repay” the crimes committed against the Faunus.” Adam continues.

Ruby doesn’t like the way he says it but she isn’t going to argue when her life is at stake.

“But if you fail, the Schnee will pay the price.” Adam finishes.

“I won’t.” Ruby states firmly.

There’s a sinking feeling in her stomach. Ruby fears she may have made a deal she will later regret. But if it meant protecting Weiss it had to be worth it then, right? Ruby thinks back on last night in the tent. The memory sickens her and threatens to overwhelm her with tears. She needs to be strong, and not just for her sake, for Weiss’s too. While Ruby is ruminating over her decision, Adam turns to the men standing next to him.

“Make sure everything is ready to be loaded. We need to be gone before midday. And put her,” Adam jerks his chin at Ruby, “In with the cargo.”

Ruby snaps her head over to look at the other two men. They nod at Adam obediently and one of them walks off.

“Start hauling this into the vans!” The remaining member shouts at a group of White Fang members lingering nearby.

Ruby watches as the White Fang works around her, hoping to remain unseen amongst the boxes. While she waits, Ruby tucks her knees up and hides her bound wrists behind them. Eyes tracking every person who walks in front of her, Ruby dips her head down and works on chewing through the ropes tied around her wrists. It isn’t long before she’s approached by another member she also doesn’t recognize. From their figure Ruby assumes them to be female and feels slightly hopeful.

“Are you-” Ruby starts.

“Don’t speak to me, _human_.” The White Fang member hisses at her.

Ruby’s jaw drops. The venom in her voice was clear. She hated Ruby. Speechless, Ruby looks away and says nothing as they pick up a crate next to her and walk away. Several other members come by to pick up crates but Ruby doesn’t look up, trying to hide her silent tears. When there are only two boxes left, Ruby sniffs and casts her gaze around her. The members' numbers have severely thinned. She can hear the sound of running engines in the distance. What was once the White Fang’s camp has now returned to a flat clearing in the woods. Ruby hasn’t seen Adam since he left earlier.

Two White Fang members approach her. One she recognizes as the female who snapped at her earlier and the other is unrecognizable. Even around their own members, they don’t remove their masks. Ruby wouldn’t be able to identify any of them if she managed to escape. The female stands over her, hands planted on her hips.

“If I hear one word out of you,” She whips out a dagger and touches the tip of the blade to Ruby’s nose, “I’ll carve up that face of yours.”

Ruby swallows nervously, not daring to utter a word. The female smiles and sheaths her dagger reaching down to haul Ruby up by her arm. Ruby wobbles as she struggles to find proper footing with her bound ankles. The female curls her lip in a snarl and yanks Ruby forward. Ruby falls to the ground helplessly, knocking into the woman and causing her to stumble. Ruby hears the growl before she feels pain in her scalp, the other woman gripping her hair fiercely. Ruby screams, reaching her wrists up to try and free herself. The woman’s hold on her is unwavering and Ruby writhes as she is dragged along in the dirt. The huntress feels strands of her hair be ripped free from her head. Ruby struggles to get her feet underneath her but every time she rises up onto one knee the woman delivers a sharp yank and sends her tumbling back to the ground.

“Please!” Ruby pleads.

The woman ignores Ruby’s pleas for forgiveness, relentless and cruel as she drags Ruby across the clearing. Ruby howls in pain and anger until she’s released suddenly, scalp numb and stinging. Laying at the edge of the woods, the woman kicks Ruby’s fallen form into a nearby thicket of bushes. Ruby lays there for a moment, letting her tears fall.

“Get up.” The woman snaps.

“Don’t tease her too much Juniper.” The other White Fang member warns as he walks by with the remaining two crates in his arms.

Ruby looks up at him through her tears as he passes by. He doesn’t even spare her a glance. The woman, Juniper makes a disgusted noise in response and turns back to Ruby. When she reaches down towards her, Ruby cowers away from her, afraid of what she will do next. Juniper grabs Ruby’s hood and continues dragging her through the woods. Her skirt does little to protect her from the thorns and fallen branches that stab and poke her as she rolls over them. Ruby tries to keep her yelps of pain quiet when she hits larger rocks. Juniper takes Ruby to the source of the engine sounds echoing in the forest where several vehicles are waiting on a dirt path. Ruby feels the woman release her hood momentarily and she sits up quickly, turning around in time to see Juniper open the door to a van. The woman rounds on Ruby and snatches her by the front and in one quick movement throws Ruby into the van with the other crates. Ruby collides against the metal boxes knocking her head into the metal corner of one. She cradles her head in her hands as the door is slammed on her and Ruby is plunged into darkness. Pain thrums behind her eyelids and her headache from earlier has only worsened. Now alone, Ruby can feel the van bumping over the dirt road as it drives through the forest and out into the unknown. The rocking of the van makes her nauseous and aggravates her headache. Stretching out, Ruby wraps her arms around her head the best she can and tries to sleep.

* * *

Ruby is vibrating but it’s not the recognizable shaking of the van. Alarmed and woozy, she fights to awaken, eyes unfocused, and seeing nothing but grey. As her vision sharpens, Ruby realizes her vision isn't impaired, but she is in a metal box. A room in a train car, she suspects. Sitting up, Ruby blinks in surprise. The binds around her wrists and ankles are gone. She looks around herself, confused when she realizes she is alone in the small room. Had she truly been left alone? A wave of pain pulses in her head. Ruby grimaces and puts a hand to her forehead. Taking note of her current state, Ruby is relieved to feel the pain in her body is dwindling thanks to her aura's natural healing, but in spite of that, she suspects she has a concussion.

It makes the huntress nervous to think of how the White Fang managed to move her without Ruby awakening. Ruby is scared and thinking of what could be in store for her in the future makes her wary. Filled with restless energy and afraid to be caught off-guard, she stands, wrapping her arms around herself. Walking over to the only door in the room, Ruby tries the handle. It’s locked. She knows she shouldn’t be surprised but her shoulders fall. As Ruby walks back to the center of the room she worries about Weiss endlessly. She's desperate to see how her friend is. Had she been hurt badly? Ruby can't help but feel it's all her fault. As she paces around the small room, she finally realizes it was probably in her best interest to conserve her energy, sitting back down on the bed.

Ruby grimaces as she sits, feeling raw in a sensitive place she doesn't want to think about. Silence fills the room. The young girl hunches her shoulders, feeling alone. What feels like it could have been an hour but is likely a mere three minutes passes, nothing but the constant thrumming of the moving train to distract her. The door to the room squeals loudly, startling her from her thoughts as it opens, Adam stepping through after it. Ruby feels her temperature spike, unconsciously balling her hands into fists. Adam smirks at her reaction, purposely blocking the entrance left by the open door.

"Where are you taking me?" Ruby asks quietly, her eyes darting around his legs, mentally sizing if she could make it.

Adam casually lays a hand on the handle of his sword. Ruby doesn't miss it.

"Let's go." Adam jerks his head towards the door. Ruby flicks her eyes over to the Faunus, distrustful. His smirk doesn't waver. Slowly, she stands, approaching him cautiously, wanting to keep a large distance between herself and Adam. He doesn't allow her, crowding her body as she slips out the doorway and steps in line behind her. Adam guides her through the train car with short, curt directions, never more than three steps behind. Ruby doesn't risk activating her semblance and getting lost or stuck waiting to be found by him until she was able to find a clear getaway. Vigilant, she soaks in her surroundings before turning and seeing up ahead was a dead end with only a door waiting.

"Open it." Adam directs when they get closer.

Ruby opens the door obediently, reeling back into Adam's body when a gust of wind blows into her face, the speeding expanse of a forest the only thing she can see.

"Jump." Adam orders.

Ruby turns, a bewildered look on her face. Was he crazy? Adam lifts his lip in a snarl, shoving her out of the train car. Ruby lets out a short scream, instincts kicking in and her semblance activating to land her safely on the ground. Adam leaps out right after her, sliding down the hill as he lands. Ruby doesn't hesitate. Taking a deep breath, she turns her back on him and begins sprinting deep into the forest.  
Ruby hears his pursuit but doesn't turn to look, focusing all of her energy on running. Gunshots begin firing behind her, tree bark exploding next to her head. Terrified, Ruby runs, digging inside herself, pushing to use her semblance once more, desperate to escape.

"You can't escape Ruby! You're not fast enough!" Adam yells.

Gritting her teeth, Ruby activates her semblance once more, the trees around her blurring as they pass by. As soon as she lands on her feet, Ruby hears another gunshot and feels her leg give out on her. Tumbling into the dirt, Ruby rolls a few feet before she finally stops, spitting out grass and leaves. She looks up to the edge of a red blade pointing towards her face, chilling her. Adam pushes the tip of the blade against her cheekbone. Ruby feels it cut her skin before her aura seals it.

"Stand up." His voice sends a chill up her spine.

Ruby stands, grateful her aura had saved her from a bullet to the knee. It had only been the force of the bullet which had knocked her off balance. In one movement, Adam slices across Ruby's front so fast, she's too stunned to react. Scared, she looks down, expecting to see a large gash mark her chest. As her clothes flutter to the ground, Ruby lets out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, relieved to see her own smooth, unblemished skin.

"Each time you disobey, you lose another thing important to you."

Adam steps forward and rips off the remaining tatters of her clothes, easily overpowering her when she resists. Ruby wrenches herself away, trying to cover her naked body. Left in just her boots, she shivers in the open air, face burning bright red.

"Now, let's try this again." Adam steps to the side, pointing in the opposite direction. "Walk."

* * *

Dusk is falling over the forest when Ruby spots a dilapidated cabin hidden in the shadows of the trees. The porch is falling in and it looks as if it had been abandoned. Ruby continues to shuffle forward, shivering as the sun's rays disappear, feeling forlorn as she approaches the door. Slowing her pace, Ruby turns her head slightly, unsure of what to do.

"Stop." Adam sighs, noticing her hesitation.

Pausing, Ruby watches him as he walks around her and kicks in the door. Ruby jumps when he does, staring back at him with uncertainty as he turns around.

"In." Adam waves his drawn sword.

Hunching her shoulders, Ruby enters the cabin, the interior pitch black. Stopping just past the doorway, she stumbles when Adam shoulders past her. He disappears into the shadows, leaving Ruby alone. Afraid, she looks around as she wanders inside, trying to make out anything in the darkness. Ruby’s foot goes through the rotting boards, a startled yelp rising in the back of her throat. While pulling her boot from the hole in the floor, she hears a creak to her left and jumps, eyes scanning for something in the darkness, but nothing appears. Adam's name on the tip of her tongue, she shuffles to the right, feeling powerless. Naked and without a weapon, Ruby is terrified.

"Ruby."

The girl screams, clapping a hand around her mouth. Adam is right next to her, seemingly having materialized out of nothing. He reaches a hand out, his sword now sheathed. She glances at it nervously.

"Come with me."

His tone is unnaturally gentle, perturbing her. Wary, she takes his hand, following him deeper into the cabin. Adam navigates the darkness with ease, capable of seeing what she cannot. Ruby remarks to herself it is probably the same reason he had been able to overpower her so easily in the tent despite there being no light. Adam's hand tugs her forward, bringing her back from the past. Ruby stiffens as his arms wrap around her body, guiding her down onto a... chair? In the darkness, his footsteps walk around her until a light emerges from the black. Adam holds a lantern up, staring at her for a moment. Ruby shifts under his gaze before suddenly feeling self-conscious and covering her naked body. She hates how the mask hid his intentions from her.

"Do you want the light?"

Ruby looks up at him in surprise.

"Y-yes?" She answers him cautiously.

Adam smirks at her. Ruby feels a pit of dread in her stomach.

"Then come over here and get it."

Distrustful, Ruby stands, approaching Adam as if coming up on a Beowulf and stops a foot in front of his body. Adam holds the lantern at shoulder height, still above Ruby's head. As soon as she reaches a hand out for it, Adam seizes her arm, stepping forward. His mouth crashes into hers, muffling any alarmed noises she makes. Ruby stumbles backward, knocking over the chair and back hitting the wall. Her hands fist in Adam's shirt, lightly pressing back and trying to alleviate the pressure of his lips against hers. He bites down her bottom lip until she opens her mouth, allowing him to then push his tongue in. Ruby squirms against his hand around her arm holding tight and keeping her pressed against the wall.

Uncomfortable, Ruby gasps around his kisses, flustered by the sudden attention and also confused by it. Adam pulls away suddenly, moving the lantern in front of her face. Startled, the young girl knocks her head into the wall as she turns away from the sudden movement. The back of her head smarting, Ruby grabs the handle of the lantern carefully, watching Adam's face with caution.

"In. There. Now." He snaps, voice suddenly angry. Stunned Ruby walks around him slowly, looking in the direction of his pointing hand. Upon seeing the doorway to a room, she rushes in. Adam slams the door behind her, making her cringe. Ruby casts a look around the room, seeing nothing but a bare mattress on the floor and a broken window above it. Shoulders slumping, she walks over to the mattress, sitting on top of it. It smells old and musty but Ruby lays down anyways, tired. The whistle of the wind blowing in through the cracked window doesn't let Ruby relax. The cold air makes her shiver. Her low aura seemed to have only drained further as the day had gone on. The dull ache in her head was persistent, making her more tired. Ruby stares at the soft glow of the lantern until the exhaustion from the day overtakes her. As she falls asleep, Ruby desperately wishes Weiss is okay.

Ruby wakes up in the middle of the night, the lantern still aglow and her naked body shivering from the cold. She has no blanket or clothes and her skin is cold to the touch. Sitting up, Ruby rubs her arms as she stares at the soft light. Hunching her shoulders, the girl stands, picking up the lantern and creeping over to the door. Testing the handle, her brows raise in surprise when she finds it to be unlocked. Slowly, Ruby opens the door, expecting to see Adam outside waiting for her. There is nothing but the inky darkness and overturned chair to silently greet her. As she slips out, Ruby looks around herself, rounding the corner to a hallway with several doors. Only one of them is closed, and Ruby heads straight for it. Holding her breath, she opens the door slowly, lifting the lantern to cast light into the room.

"Adam-" her whisper is cut off as a black hand comes out from the darkness, reaching for Ruby. Yelping, Ruby jumps back, almost dropping the lantern. Shadows bounce around the hall as Adam emerges from his room looking furious. Ruby bumps into the wall, Adam's hand slamming down next to her head.

"What are you doing out here?" He growls.

Ruby stammers, holding her free hand up in defense.

"I-I tried to sleep but it's too cold and you took my clothes so..." She trails off.

Adam glares at her for an uncomfortable moment until the tension leaves his body. Nervously fidgeting under his gaze, Ruby stares at the floor as Adam straightens.

"So you came to me." Adam smiles.

Ruby fights the scowl that tries to emerge. Standing to the side, Adam gestures for her to enter the room. Ruby steps in, surprised to see the room is furnished with a bed that actually has blankets atop it. However they are arranged in a way that makes Ruby assume Adam had been sleeping on top of them.

"Give me the lantern and get in bed."

Ruby stiffens, not wanting to give up the light source she had become attached to. Adam, noticing her hesitation, walks over and snatches it from her hands. Ruby looks away from him angrily, fighting off tears of frustration. Too tired to protest, Ruby walks to the bed, pulling the covers back and nestling under the stiff blankets. They were slightly warm from when Adam had been sleeping on them, but her body was still cold. Adam, waiting until she starts moving to the bed turns off the lantern and plunges Ruby into darkness. Suddenly scared, she grips the blanket tightly, hearing Adam's footsteps grow closer. The blankets lift and Adam slips in next to Ruby. The girl stiffens when Adam presses his body against hers. Her cold skin begins to thaw against the heat of his, allowing her to relax incrementally.

Ruby had been missing the warmth of another body but not like this. Not his body. Adam's hand touches her hip, making her jerk. He strokes up her side, sliding over to her breast where he continues to fondle it. Ruby bites down on her tongue when he pinches her nipple. Her breathing hitches audibly, echoing in the silent room. Ruby tries to ignore the sensation, forcing her eyes to stay closed.

_Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep..._

The offending hand dips down past her navel, between her legs.

_Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep..._

Ruby feels a rush of pleasure spread up her spine. She grits her teeth against it and squeezes her thighs around his hand.

"Relax." Adam whispers in her ear.

Ruby wants to scoff as if that were possible in this situation. She pushes her face deeper into the mattress, wanting to escape from him. Adam teases her, pushing a finger shallowly into her and languidly pumps it in and out. Ruby feels herself clench around his finger despite still being sore in places. Ruby hates all of it. She loathes her body for responding and despises the man next to her for humiliating her. Trying to move her hips away and escape from his relentless touching, Ruby dislodges his fingers inside of her for a moment as she scoots closer to Adam's body. Her whole face flushes as the firm contours of his muscles push into her back. She feels the low rumble of his laugh vibrate in his chest as he grips her thigh, peeling her legs open and forcing his own between hers. Ruby whines in protest but Adam doesn’t hesitate in shoving two fingers inside of her. Ruby claps a hand over her mouth. The noises coming from between her legs echo in the room. Adam doesn’t have to work hard to have her body on fire, a desperate need smoldering deep inside of her. It’s awful how her body craves his fingers to push a bit deeper and each time he does her clit pulses with heat. Ruby lets out a whimper when he curls his fingers inside of her, rubbing against a spot that makes her see stars. Finally breaking, she can only beg him and grab his wrist.

"Please don't." She whispers.

"Don't tell me you didn't ask for this. You came to my door, asking to be with me, _naked-_ "

Ruby lets out an unexpected groan as Adam shoves his fingers in hard with his last word. He massages her clit with his thumb, digging in until she cries out. Ruby bites her fist to keep her voice under control and hears Adam chuckle in her ear.

"You're so easy."

Ruby flushes with shame. Adam pulls his hand away, wiping her wetness onto her bare skin. Ruby ignores him taking the moment to breathe a deep sigh of relief. He shifts beside her, caging her body between himself and the wall. Ruby sits up in alarm, but Adam's hands are immediately pressing down on her chest, flattening her against the mattress as he moves to sit on top of her.

"What’re you doing?" Ruby's voice is shrill.

"I have a good way to keep both of us warm." Ruby can imagine him smiling at her sadistically.

Ruby hears the zipper of his pants and terror seizes her. Taking advantage of his body lifting off of hers momentarily, she starts thrashing underneath him, drawing her legs up and fighting to keep them closed. Adam forces them apart and pins her legs against her chest. Ruby lets out a harsh breath, winded from trying to overpower him. In her moment of respite, she feels the swollen head of Adam's cock press against her tight slit.

"No, wait, it still hurts-" She protests, but it’s too late.

Ruby drops her head back on the mattress as he slides in. It’s easier for her to adjust to Adam’s size this time as she isn’t as tight as she was the first time. Still, Ruby pants, trying to relax and suppress the pain she’s feeling.

"Already getting used to me? That's a good girl." Adam cooes at her but it sounds like a taunt.

Ruby grits her teeth wanting to scowl but grunts forcefully as Adam thrusts back in suddenly. He’s just as rough as he was before. Ruby’s gasps are mostly from pain. His fingers incessantly pinch her nipples and she’s certain he doesn’t truly care about her pleasure but only wants to humiliate her more. Ruby’s body coils underneath him, hips twisting into the mattress as they try to escape his punishing pace. Any traces of chill left in Ruby's body evaporates and leaves behind only a suffocating heat. Adam uses his grip on her legs to pull her down on his dick as he rams up into her. Ruby squeals, pain shooting through her stomach. It hurts in this position and each thrust feels like it’s bruising her insides.

"Adam, please-" Ruby gasps, pushing back against his midsection.

His response is to pin her arms over her head. Ruby cries out in exasperation and exertion. Without Adam to hold her legs up, they drop, useless. Her body quakes and she can’t stop it, her knees pressing into the sides of his thighs as she feels herself pulse, coercing him to stay. Ruby twists her body in his grip, all of the aches in her body coming back with a vengeance.

"Ngh-No..." Ruby wails squeezing her eyes shut.

"Do you enjoy being used like a slave?" There’s laughter in his voice.

Ruby whines in response, turning her head away from him. Adam grabs her face, turning it back towards him.

"Look at me!" He thunders.

Ruby opens her eyes and looks up into the dark with a fearful gaze. She can never see Adam during sex and is thankful she doesn't have to witness his sadistic pleasure more than she already is.

"Just as you humans have forced countless Faunus to serve you with their bodies, you can do the same."

"I would never-"

"Shut up!" Adam snaps, striking Ruby across the face. Her sharp cry is cut off by his rant.

"The dust you use, that your friend the Schnee makes a living off of, you reap the benefits of their abuse!"

Ruby gasps through her tears underneath him, cheek stinging. Adam snaps his hips into Ruby and a groan bursts from her. She can't even form a reply, overtaken by the pain. Adam uses the momentum to continue rutting into Ruby, barely pulling out halfway before thrusting in deep. Ruby's wails turn into loud moans, her body beginning to shake uncontrollably underneath him. Ruby is terrified it’s going to happen again, that feeling of unraveling under Adam's brute force. She resists, not wanting him to control her like this. For all her fighting, Ruby finds herself slipping, legs clenching around Adam, and hips bucking up to meet his own.

"D-d-don't come inside." Ruby huffs between her moans.

"You're wrapped awful tight around me for someone who doesn't want me to come inside." Adam jeers.

Ruby is speechless, too lost in her own struggle to formulate a reply. It doesn't matter, her body overcomes her willpower as she feels herself begin squeezing Adam's cock, hungry for him to stay inside of her. Without her hands to cover her mouth, Ruby's screams fill the room, mixing in with the creaking of the bed. She doesn't hear Adam's own grunts and growls until he lays himself over her, spurting ropes of cum deep inside her unprotected womb. Ruby's body shakes with a satisfied buzz. It disgusts her. She breathes heavily, feeling stifled by Adam's heavy body on hers. Occasionally, she feels herself twitch around his still hard member inside of her, and just as Ruby is feeling the sensation of something trickling out, Adam sits up, pulling out in one motion.

Ruby grimaces as nausea tightens her stomach. The sudden emptiness is unsettling. Adam releases her arms, slipping off the bed. Ruby rolls over, curling into a ball. A few moments later, she hears the creaking of the door and then Adam’s receding footsteps. The feeling of something leaking down her thigh only continues to her great discomfort. Unable to help herself, Ruby slips a hand between her legs to wipe the excess fluid away and is horrified when she realizes the amount of cum that has already come out, mixed with her own fluids. Her cupped hand drips with semen, disgusting her. Hurriedly wiping it on the sheets, Ruby can't escape from the smell of sex, reminding her of what had just happened. Closing her eyes, she tries to force herself to sleep, the only relief she still has left. Adam enters the room a few minutes later, getting back under the sheets, but thankfully this time putting his back to her. The heat from his body coupled with the blankets is enough for Ruby to stay warm as she falls into an exhausted sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby blinks as the sunlight's rays stream onto her face. As she sits up, she notices the extra space in the bed. Adam is gone and it doesn’t necessarily make her feel relieved. Ruby casts a look around the room, having not noticed a window on the far wall when she initially came into the room last night. For a moment she thinks to open it, to escape deep into the forest and find her way back to the train tracks. A sharp pain in her navel reminds her of what punishment awaits if she fails. Depressed, Ruby reasons if exhaustion and hunger didn't get to her first, a Grimm would. Without her weapon or clothing, she could die if she spent a night in the woods alone. No, the safest place right now was with Adam Taurus.

Ruby strips the blankets off of herself and stands, legs shaking. She feels another wave of pain in her stomach but this time different. Hunger. Having not fed her body the stress and injuries she had sustained were taking a toll on her. Ruby could sense how weak her aura was. Looking over her body, she was aghast to see bruises still remaining, struggling to heal. Ruby needed to recover before Adam accidentally killed her. Opening the door, she glances down the hallway, searching for any signs of life. The old cabin was silent, luring Ruby out from her room and further down the hall to her right. She approaches what looks to be the remains of a living space, but the furniture was barely recognizable it was so worn and weathered. Crossing the room, she spots a rusty faucet and large sink in another side room. She rushes over to it, her thirst the only thing on her mind.

"Please, please, please..." Ruby mutters as she wrenches the handle. It squeaks loudly as it turns, but no water comes out. Determined, Ruby turns it a few more times before the faucet sputters out gusts of air, and to her delight, the start of a dribble following after. Cupping her hands under the water, Ruby begins eagerly drinking. The first few sips are warm but the water soon turns cold. Unbothered by its metallic taste, Ruby tilts her head and drinks from the faucet freely until her hunger pains return, sharpened by the water in her belly. Stopping the flow, she looks around the small utility room, but the only cabinet to be found is a disappointment, its doors open, sagging and bare. Put-out, Ruby wonders if Adam's plan is to torment her until she dies of starvation. Walking back over to the hallway, Ruby is determined to scour the cabin's many rooms in search of food. She refuses to die easily.

Thirty minutes later, Ruby wants to scream in frustration. Aside from the two bedrooms, there is a bathroom with a cracked toilet and a door which, upon inspection, leads to the backyard, and is not a room at all. Adam had yet to be spotted. Ruby is mildly surprised, considering the ruckus she had made, slinging garbage and broken furniture out of her way since she had woken up. She had managed to find a musty sheet that she had wrapped several times around her small body. Aside from that small victory, she is down to her last option. Taking a deep breath, Ruby walks outside, shivering in the wind. It’s colder than yesterday, or is it just that she had no proper clothes? Ruby catches the scent of the old sheet. It’s a marginal victory, really.

Walking out into the front yard, she scans the area but doesn’t spot Adam. Had he really left her alone? Ruby kicks herself. If she had attempted to escape earlier in the morning she would have a significant lead on Adam. But she still had no food. Had Adam left her unguarded knowing any attempts to escape would be certain death? Ruby tries to think over her situation. The train tracks are a half day's walk southwest. She had secured a water source, but no reliable food source. As horrible as it sounded, Ruby's best option is to rely on Adam for food and protection until she would be strong enough to execute her escape plan. She had to be strong. In the meantime, she could try to garner information about Weiss-

A branch snaps deep in the woods. Ruby goes on full alert, bracing herself and grabbing for her weapon- She’s surprised when she grasps nothing but air. That's right, without Crescent Rose she can't defend herself. Ruby looks around wildly, spotting nothing that is sturdy enough to kill a Grimm. Her only hope is to outrun it or hide. Swallowing thickly, Ruby tries to calm herself down.

"Thinking of running?"

Ruby snaps her eyes back over to the woods. Adam steps out, his sword in one hand and his scroll in another. Ruby’s eyes light up. His scroll! She can steal it and call for help.

"In that get-up? With no weapon?" Adam laughs.

Ruby narrows her eyes at him. "Where have you been?" She huffs.

Adam ignores her question, continuing to walk towards her. Ruby watches him approach her with a guarded expression. She can’t tell what he’s thinking. He slips his scroll in his breast pocket; she’s going to have trouble retrieving it from there. Ruby takes a few steps back as Adam encroaches on her personal space. Quick as a viper, he snatches a hold of the sheet wrapped around her body. Ruby stumbles towards him, off-balance as he rips it from her body, flinging it behind him. Turning, Adam swings his sword, cutting the fluttering sheet into shreds. Whirling back to face her, Ruby watches his sword carefully, not wanting to be at the end of the pointed blade.

"What makes you think you deserve to be clothed? Animals don't wear clothes." Adam snarls.

Ruby stares back at him, shocked. Animal? She doesn't realize she had echoed the words aloud until Adam jerks his arm, making her flinch. He points to the ground.

"Sit."

Ruby's jaw drops. No way. If he was implying what she thought then,

The sword's tip is under her chin in a flash. Ruby grits her teeth, submitting to his will and slowly sinking to her knees.

"That's better. Now you can fully realize the position you're in." Adam grins down at her.

Ruby turns her face away from him, skin aflame with shame.

"Are you hungry?" Adam asks, sounding the kindest he had been all morning.

Ruby refuses to reply.

"No? You must've managed to find something earlier among all of the trash you were digging through." Adam teases with a smile, leaning on his sword.

Ruby glares at him hatefully. Adam's smile disappears. He straightens and pulls his sword out of the dirt. He points to a path leading around to the back of the cabin.

"Crawl."

"What!?" Ruby bursts out, temper flaring.

Adam surges towards her, hand clamping onto Ruby's throat. He lifts her off the ground, holding her at an arms length. Ruby's eyes bulge, the soreness from being choked by him once before aching in response to his treatment. Her throat burns all while she slaps and scratches at his arm, kicking her legs and struggling to break free.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Ruby." Adam speaks softly. "If you behave I won't have to punish you."

Ruby chokes, limbs becoming too heavy to hold up any longer. Adam drops her into an ungraceful heap at his feet. Ruby hacks, dry heaving as she struggles to suck air back into her lungs. Tears run down her cheeks, initially from the coughing, but then sobs begin to overtake her. She cries softly, and Adam lets her, for a moment.

"Crawl." He commands again.

Ruby obeys, crawling as she cries, feeling pathetic. As she rounds the cabin her tears begin to dry, knees stinging as she scuffs them on the wood and debris littering the yard. Ruby hadn't taken the time to explore the backyard and finds herself regretting it as her eyes fall on a large metal box hidden in the shadow of the cabin.

"Wait over there." Adam instructs her, gesturing towards the cabin’s backdoor without so much as a glance towards Ruby. Biting down on a retort, Ruby clambers over, sitting back on her legs as she watches Adam. 

He finishes putting in a combination to a lock and opens the box, reaching in and producing a can she can't identify from the distance she is at. Ruby's stomach growls in hopes it was what she thought it was. Ruby doesn't know if Adam heard or not, but he turns towards her with a grin.

"I shouldn't reward you for being difficult." Adam chides her. "But I can be forgiving. It's just us out here, so let's try to get along."

Ruby opens her mouth to retort before thinking better of it. She needs food and her pride wasn't going to feed her. His reminder that it is only the pair of them, alone, in the woods is chilling. Adam watches her, amused.

"I-I'm sorry..." Ruby mutters.

"For?" Adam ventures.

Ruby fights the scowl that tries to rise to her face. Taking a breath to calm herself she meets his eyes.

"I'm sorry for being disobedient." Ruby answers through gritted teeth.

"You'll learn. In time." Adam shrugs in response to the reply he had just wrenched from her. Casually he opens the top of the can before glancing over at Ruby. Her eyes are glued to the can; she’s starving. Adam walks over to her, scooping out some ground hamburger and sauce onto his gloved fingers, and offers it to her.

Ruby gapes at him.

"Eat it."

There isn't room for argument. Ruby looks away from the food working her jaw. He really was treating her like an animal. 

“Ruby.” He warns.

Ruby closes her eyes and tells herself to listen. She needs to eat and if she isn’t careful she could set Adam off again. Unconsciously, she lifts her hand to take the food from him but Adam jerks his hand back, tsking at her. 

“You know better than that.” He chuckles but his smile is hard.

Ruby clenches her hands in her lap. Adam offers the food to her once more. She wants to refuse, but her stomach tells her not to be stupid, to think of survival first. Ruby leans forward and starts sucking the ground hamburger off his fingers. It was... sweet? The moment she tastes it Ruby feels her hunger overtake her and she quickly cleans off the rest of his fingers. Adam methodically scoops out more, holding it out for her. Ruby doesn't look up, she just focuses on what was in front of her, on the canned food that is slowly satisfying her hunger. It carries on like that for a quiet moment, with Adam feeding her and Ruby lapping it up hungrily. When finished, Ruby licks her lips but her face is sticky from where Adam's dirty fingers had smeared against her cheeks. She goes to rub them when she notices the dirt covering her hands. In fact, Ruby had taken quite a few rolls in the dirt lately. After the events of the past two days, Ruby needs a shower, desperately.

"Stand up." Adam tells her as he tosses the can in with a pile of garbage. Ruby stands, knees aching from holding her previous position.

"I'll show you where to bathe."

Ruby says nothing, hoping that the less she speaks the better her odds are of not angering him. Adam walks in through the back door of the cabin, leaving Ruby outside. Casting one more look around herself, she follows him inside, promising herself she will escape eventually. Ruby trails behind Adam as he heads to the bathroom she found earlier, and pauses in the doorway, watching him. Adam turns the nozzle in the bathtub and water spews into the dirty basin. Ruby blinks in surprise; she hadn’t expected the tub to work at all considering the pitiful state of the toilet.

“There’s soap in the corner and I’ll bring you a towel. Go ahead and get in.”

Ruby is instantly suspicious. She peeks a look at Adam’s face, but it’s unreadable. From the tone of his voice, she can only assume he is being sincere and steps out of his way as he leaves the bathroom. Ruby stares at his back as he walks down the hallway and disappears out the front door of the cabin. As soon as he’s gone she lets out a breath, shoulders slumping. Ruby sits on the lip of the tub, kicking off her boots and socks. She frowns at a hole in the knee of the sock, wondering when she’ll have the chance to wear clothes again. The water is still churning in the tub and Ruby dips her hand in to check the temperature. It's lukewarm and she doubts it will be warming up anytime soon either. Ruby resigns herself to the situation at hand and slips into the bath.

A layer of dirt instantly dissolves in the tub. Ruby wrinkles her nose and goes to work on wiping off the rest of the grime on her skin. She hears Adam’s returning footsteps and freezes, looking over at the doorway. Adam steps into the bathroom with, to Ruby’s surprise, a towel and something else in hand. Her hands are wrapped around her chest, knees tucked up as she stares him down. The faunus kneels down next to the tub, startling Ruby with how close he had gotten. The girl leans away from him, on full alert.

“You’re not going to get anywhere without using soap.” Adam comments, reaching over to pick up the bar of soap.

He sounds so... normal. The man who is running the soap bar across the skin of her back is nothing like the one who choked her on the front lawn. She watches him silently as he dips the bar of soap into the water and then lathers it between his hands. Ruby shifts in the tub, uncomfortable. Suddenly Adam reaches towards her head and she flinches away, eyes shut. His hand softly lands on top of her hair, stroking her for a moment. Ruby blinks her eyes open, stunned, her gaze slowly lifting to his face. Adam says nothing and begins to scrub her hair until suds start to form. Ruby tracks her eyes along his relaxed jawline, observing the way his shoulders move as he rubs soap into her scalp. The girl feels herself begin to relax slightly, the feeling of Adam’s hands massaging her head lulling her into a tranquil state. Adam draws back, finished, and rinses his hands in the water.

“I can rinse it out.” Ruby mutters, unsure of how to react.

Without looking at him, she dunks her head into the water, twisting her head to make sure the soap dissipates. Adam’s hand touches her neck and she yanks her head up, panicked. Blind and scared, Ruby wipes at her eyes, freezing when she feels Adam continue to cup water and pour it on the back of her head where she hadn’t managed to submerge it. Ruby is so touched by the gesture, she finds herself staring at him in astonishment.

“What?” Adam asks. His face is unreadable.

“Nothing.” She blurts, turning her burning cheeks away from him.

Adam doesn’t force her to explain and Ruby watches him quietly as he scrubs the bar of soap against her arm.

“I-I can wash myself...” She trails off as his hands wander too close to her chest.

Adam snorts. “Are you embarrassed?”

“W-well, I-”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” Adam cuts her off, running his bare hands over her breasts.

Ruby bites her lip, agitated by the conflicting emotions she’s feeling. Adam pinches one of her nipples and she jumps. There’s a flash of a smile on his face but then it’s gone and she’s rushing to answer his sharp command.

“Stand up so I can finish.”

Ruby was hoping he would just clean her legs while they were submerged or better yet, let her clean her own body but she’s desperate to stay on his good side so she listens.

“Okay.” She agrees, slowly standing in the bath.

Adam runs the bar of soap down her legs, tapping at the back of her foot when he wants her to lift it for him. Ruby has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing when his fingers slide over ticklish spots. She couldn’t think of a worse response to the situation. His fingers slide up against her inner thigh and then further, ghosting over her slit. Ruby shivers with discomfort. She refuses to look down but his hands resume bathing her. When he’s finished, Adam returns the bar of soap back to its place and grabs Ruby’s wrist. She obediently sits back down in the tub when he tugs on it, saying nothing as he rinses her body. She can’t deny how much better she already feels now having eaten and cleaned herself. Adam pulls the plug in the tub and stands, picking up the towel he had brought for Ruby. She follows his lead, rising and reaching for the towel.

“No.” Adam denies her.

Ruby looks at him in confusion. In response, Adam steps forward, toweling her hair until it stops dripping and then continues to pat her dry. Finally, Adam offers her the towel and she accepts it gratefully, wrapping it around her body.

“Step out and sit down.” He instructs her as he pulls out the object she hadn’t been able to identify earlier.

It looks to be a tube of some sort. Ruby stares at it as she sits on the edge of the tub, watching Adam kneel in front of her. He squeezes out a gel and applies it to the scratches she has on her knees. Ruby gapes at him, wondering where this kind and considerate man has come from and whatever happened to the Adam Taurus who she had come to know as a sadistic and obsessive man?

“Your aura’s still depleted.” Adam states.

Ruby nods, silent and still unsure of what he was thinking.

“Better not get any stupid ideas like running. The Grimm will catch you before you ever make it back to those train tracks.”

Ruby shifts uncomfortably, knowing he’s right.

“I won’t. I’m not stupid.” Ruby declares, voice falling soft.

“Good girl.” Adam smiles at her, patting her head as he stands.

Ruby looks away from him. Adam slides his black gloves back on, continuing to talk.

“You should go lay down.” It’s not a suggestion.

“What about you?” Ruby pries, curious to know what Adam was planning, bringing her all the way out to such an isolated place.

Adam pauses and looks at her. Ruby keeps her eyes trained on his shoes.

“What about me?” His voice is cold.

Ruby weighs her next words.

“Are you going somewhere?” She asks carefully.

“It’s none of your business.” Adam replies harshly.

“I thought, I mean, I just wanted... I just didn’t know... if you were-” Ruby stammers, intimidated.

“Don’t _think_ , obey. The only thing you need to know is that if you don’t listen there will be consequences.”

Ruby winces at his words. They cut through her and she hangs her head. Adam grabs her by the chin. Ruby looks up at him with a fearful gaze.

“You have a concussion don’t you.” Adam doesn't pose it as a question.

Ruby swallows thickly. So he knew, then. If he would stop hitting her it would heal faster but she knows better than to dare speak that aloud.

“Stop arguing with me and go sleep, Ruby.” Adam sighs, releasing her chin.

Fingers tightening around the towel, she stands without a word and Adam moves to the side. Eager to escape, Ruby is careful when walking past him, picking up her boots and heading towards the bedroom.

“And where are you going?” Ruby can hear the suppressed laugh in his voice.

“To the bedroom?” Ruby turns back towards him, confused.

Adam points in the opposite direction. Her eyes widened. Without realizing, Ruby had been walking to Adam’s room. Trying to think quickly, she makes up an excuse.

“It’s just that the other room doesn’t have a blanket or sheets so I...” She falters, looking at him uncertainly.

Adam folds his arms, staring back at her. Ruby exhales slowly, eyes flicking around the hallway.

“Um, if it’s okay with you, I want to... keep... sleeping in the same room. With you.” Ruby feels herself blushing up to her ears but it’s the heat of anger. The food in her stomach threatens to come up.

Adam smirks. Ruby hates it.

“If you want privileges, you’re going to have to earn them.” Adam finally says, walking towards her.

Ruby takes a few steps back, nervous.

“W-what do you mean?”

Adam stops in front of her, still smiling.

“You’ll see.”

Ruby doesn’t like the sound of that. Adam’s voice is low, shaking her. Already, a plea is on the tip of her tongue, ready to bargain and escape from whatever he has planned, but before she can try to bargain with him, Adam turns away, finished with the conversation.

“Leave the towel on the door handle.”

Ruby nods before realizing he isn’t looking at her and utters a quick word of affirmation. She scurries off to the bedroom, not relaxing until the door is shut. Ruby lets out a breath, slipping the towel off and hooking it on the door handle. Chilly, she slides under the bed’s covers, wrapping herself up. The faint pulsing of her head reminds her of the unhealed injuries she still has. Ruby yawns, wondering if Adam was truly thinking of her wellbeing or only wanted her out of the way so he could continue whatever he had been doing earlier in the forest. Ruby frowns as she closes her eyes. She wasn’t sure either way, but the most important thing was that she did need to rest and regain her aura. Ruby tosses in bed, focusing all of her energy on falling asleep until she finally does.

* * *

A loud crash wakes Ruby. The girl bolts up in bed, head swimming. Chest heaving in fear, she fails to spot the source of the sound. The room is dark and she can barely make out anything. Listening intently, Ruby hears the sound of heavy rainfall. Lightning lights up the room briefly before another clap of thunder shakes the tiny cabin. Ruby jumps, cringing as the thunder rages. Pushing the sheets back, she gets out of bed, wandering blindly to the door. Feeling for the handle, she opens the door, looking into the hallway. Ruby pokes her head out, hearing the sounds of dripping water in the hallway. Faintly, she can hear the sound of scuffling near the front door. Wondering if Adam is nearby, Ruby tracks down the hallway, bare feet padding softly. At some point she trips over some of the debris and in an effort to right her balance, steps on some glass. Ruby lets out a small shriek, startled by the pain. Lifting her foot, she tries to feel around the wound, but in the dark it’s impossible to see anything.

Huffing, the huntress scolds herself for not searching for the lantern first. The thunder had scared her badly enough she had fled the room without thinking. Gingerly placing her foot back down on the floor, she limps down the hallway, stepping on the tips of her toes in an attempt to not put weight on her foot. Pain spikes up her calf with every step, but Ruby is closer to the front door than the bedroom at this point, so she continues to hobble down the hall. The sounds are growing louder, but still indistinguishable. Ruby almost calls out for Adam but her pride catches her. She doesn’t want to give him anything else to use against her. Ruby’s hand pats against the wall until she feels the familiar shape of the door handle and turns it.

As the front door opens a huge gust of wind rips the handle from her hand and slams it against the wall. Ruby shields herself as rain sprays over her. She hears something mixed in with the sounds of rain battering against the cabin. A snuffing noise accompanied by more scratching draws Ruby’s eyes out farther to the yard just in front of the cabin. At first, there is only the inky darkness but something alive moves.

“Adam?” She breathes, fear beginning to creep back.

Lightning strikes across the sky, casting light onto the front porch. Ruby’s eyes connect with another, red pair.

An Ursa.

Ruby’s eyes widen. She’s petrified. The Ursa growls lowly upon spotting her. So close! How could it have been lumbering around so quietly? It must’ve caught the scent of the pair in the lawn earlier. Ruby knows she’s emanating nothing but sheer terror, only broadcasting her location to the Grimm, but still, she cannot move. Breathing in short gasps, the huntress begins to hyperventilate as the Ursa crawls up the stairs towards her eyes shining in the darkness. Unconsciously, she takes a step back onto her injured foot and cries out, dropping to the floor in pain. She scoots backward across the floor until her back bumps into one of the pieces of decaying furniture. The Ursa pokes its massive head through the doorway, large jaws opening to reveal lines of sharp teeth.

Thunder shakes the cabin and Ruby screams, flinging her arms in front of her face to shield herself. She waits for the pain of the Grimm’s teeth closing over her, finally devoured. A moment passes, but nothing happens. There is no pain. Shaking, she peeks through her hands, her heart stopping when she sees the Ursa’s face so close to her. Slowly, one red eye disappears, and then the other. Ruby drops her hands, confused. Lightning lights up the inside of the cabin once more, revealing a red sword with its blade buried in the back of the disintegrating Ursa. Ruby follows it upwards, seeing Adam on top of the dead beast.

“Adam!” Ruby gasps, crawling forward into the darkness.

“Why are you out here?” He asks from in front of her before she feels his hand grab her upper arm.

“How did you know? Are there more? Where did you come from?” Ruby rambles, clutching to the front of his wet shirt.

Adam stands, lifting Ruby with him. Her foot reminds her of its injury with a sharp throb and she hisses under her breath. Adam notices and pulls her hands off of him.

“Where are you hurt?” He demands.

Ruby shakes her head.

“I-I just stepped on something it’s not from the Ursa.” She explains hastily.

Adam crouches down, picking up her injured foot. He studies it for a moment before jumping back up.

“Why the hell were you running around barefoot?” Adam snarls at her while manhandling her body.

Ruby grunts as she’s thrown over his shoulder, still unable to see very well in the dark.

“I... forgot.” She replies dumbly as Adam stomps further into the cabin.

“You’re so stupid!” Adam snaps, dumping her on the floor.

Ruby winces as she hits the floor. A light comes to life, illuminating the room, and Ruby recognizes the lantern she had forgotten earlier. Adam has carried her to the bedroom.

“You were gone! And there was an Ursa at the front door what was I supposed to do-”

“You should’ve run!” Adam yells down at her.

Ruby jolts at his words. She had been so wrapped up in how terrifying the Ursa was and without her weapon she hadn’t even thought she had a chance of surviving.

“You call yourself a huntress and freeze in the face of Grimm? Pathetic.” Adam spits.

Ruby’s eyes sting as she fights tears. Adam slams the lantern down next to Ruby’s foot and grabs her ankle. She reflexively jerks her leg away, alarmed. His lip curls in response, his grip holding her foot in place as he examines her wound. Ruby braces herself for his next tirade of insults but Adam just places her foot down gently and stands.

“Do you understand now? You can’t do anything without me.”

Ruby opens her mouth to protest, angry, but stops herself. Adam had saved her and arguing with him now might not make him so grateful in the future.

“I’m sorry... and, thank you.” Ruby musters, trying to make peace.

Ruby keeps her eyes focused on the floor, waiting for Adam’s reply. As the seconds tick by she grows more and more anxious. Nervously she flicks her eyes up to look at him and then back down at the floor.

“I can leave...” She mutters, struggling to stand up without putting pressure onto her foot.

“No.” Adam shuts her down.

Ruby glances at him with a confused expression. She had assumed Adam would only grow more irritated the longer he was around her. When Adam steps toward her Ruby limps backward but he grabs her in a flash. She leans into his grip trying to keep the pressure off her wounded foot.

“If you’re thankful then prove it.” Adam sneers.

Ruby flounders casting a nervous look around herself.

“I-I don’t know what you mean-”

“Don’t play stupid Ruby, you only have one use. There’s no point acting coy.”

Ruby’s face burns at his words. She looks away from him and bites her lip to keep her tears at bay. Adam steps in closer to her, tilting her head up to face him.

“Time to earn your privilege.” Adam whispers against her lips.

Ruby squeezes her eyes shut as he kisses her feeling his other hand wrap around her waist and draw her against his body. His tongue forces its way into her mouth and Adam gropes her butt. Ruby’s moan is muffled. She shifts in his arms and her foot sends a spike of pain through her leg. Ruby wants to pull away from the kiss and address the wound but she’s never given the chance. Adam breaks the kiss and grabs her breast, rolling her nipple between his fingers. Ruby feels the ache in her core for something more. She pushes it down, able to ignore it for the time being.

“Were there more Grimm besides the Ursa?” She asks quietly wanting to distract herself and him.

Adam’s silence is terse.

“Not all of us are incompetent. I was tracking the Ursa back to the cabin.” He sounds annoyed.

Ruby raises her brows in surprise.

“You ran into it earlier today?”

Adam huffs his hand leaving her breast and pushing against her clit. Pleasure flares in Ruby’s lower abdomen. She tries to focus on the pain in her foot.

“I ran into a pack of Beowulfs. The Ursa escaped.”

Was that all he was doing in the forest today? Ruby knew she had slept for a considerable amount of time but it was surprising to her to hear Adam had been doing something as noble as fighting Grimm.

“How long are we going to be here?” Ruby whispers.

Adam forces a finger into her. Ruby whimpers loudly, knees shaking.

“Enough questions. You’re going to spread your legs like the good little bitch you are.” Adam snarls in her ear.

Adam effortlessly scoops Ruby up and drops her onto the bed. Ruby gasps, taken aback at his sudden demand to have sex with her. He always acted as if he was disgusted by her so why?

“No, no, I don’t want this.” Ruby protests as Adam climbs over her body.

“It’s all you’re good for.”

Ruby closes her eyes at the cruelty in his voice. It hurts her more than she wants to admit. She remains stiff when he grabs her arm.

“Or do you not actually care about your friend, the Schnee?”

Ruby’s eyes fly open. She stares back at Adam in horror. How could he suggest such a thing?

“I knew you were all talk anyways.” Adam releases her arm, stepping off of the bed.

“No!” Ruby says forcefully, grabbing for him.

When Adam tries to pull away from her Ruby slides off the bed and onto her knees, grabbing at the fabric of his pants.

“Please,” she begs, “I said I’ll do anything and I meant it.”

Ruby’s eyes fill with tears. Adam looks down at her with a smile, crouching so he can cup her chin in his hand. Ruby closes her eyes and feels silent tears streak down her cheeks.

“Don’t forget Ruby, you are mine, now. I control you.”

Ruby nods her head at his words, hating herself. When Adam doesn’t continue, she opens her eyes to gaze up at him. Adam’s thumb strokes at the tears on her cheek.

“Tell me, Ruby, you’ve never pleasured a man before have you?”

Ruby turns red. Her eyes fall from his face, not wanting to answer. Isn’t it obvious? She still had yet to see a man’s genitals due to the nature of how he had taken her before. Adam’s hand slides from her chin to her neck, resting his hand on her neck. Ruby felt his fingers probe at the swollen spots where he had strangled her. They tighten and Ruby swallows anxiously answering him in a whisper.

“No.”

Adam hums in reply. Ruby is nervous to find out what he’s thinking about.

“Adam?” She ventures.

“I'll teach you, then.” He finally answers, standing up.

Ruby’s palms begin to sweat. Adam moves to unbuckle his pants and then pauses, thinking better of it.

“Take my pants off.” He instructs her.

Ruby gnaws on her bottom lip as she obeys, pulling his pants and underwear down to midthigh. She blinks in shock when she sees his dick for the first time. Ruby drops her head and puts her hands back in her lap. Adam laughs at her reaction.

“You’re not done yet. Suck on it.”

Ruby looks back at his member helplessly. What he was asking her to do was too much. She’d never done something like this in her life.

“Unless you’re not serious about your promise-” Adam starts.

Ruby forces herself to grab him and is startled by its smoothness. Gingerly she leans forward putting him in her mouth. Ruby is only able to get the tip in and sucks on it lightly. Adam’s hand comes to the back of her head and pushes her to take him in deeper. Ruby chokes but her spit allows him to move around easier. Adam sets a rhythm for her reminding Ruby to keep sucking every time she chokes. Tears bead in the corners of her eyes as her throat aches from being abused. Even when Adam removes his hand, Ruby continues, knowing she isn’t allowed to stop.

“What do you think your friends would say if they could see you like this?”

Ruby stops her ministrations to give Adam a hateful look. He laughs at her expression.

“You only look that much more pitiful when you try to be angry with my dick in your mouth.”

Ruby tries to pull her mouth off of him in defiance but Adam’s hands are around her head in a flash.

“Not yet.” He warns.

Holding her in place, Adam bucks his hips into her mouth and Ruby gags. Her stomach twists as she tries to reject him, tears squeezing themselves from her eyes. She tries to breathe through her nose but Adam buries himself in the back of her throat. Ruby slaps her hands against his thighs trying to alert him as she suffocates. Adam finally relents, pulling out of her mouth. Ruby coughs, spit connecting her mouth to the tip of his member. Ruby manages a few ragged breaths and Adam is pushing himself back in starting a brutal pace that makes her throat ache more. Ruby pushes against his thighs but it does nothing to slow him. Forced to take the full brunt of his thrusting Ruby closes her eyes, trying her best to breathe in spite of his punishing pace.

Adam groans lowly and Ruby tries to pull away but instead Adam pushes himself all the way in. For a moment Ruby is confused by him stopping and then she feels the onslaught of liquid pouring down her throat. She chokes and shakes her head as she tries to refuse him. Adam holds her face against his pelvis and pinches her nose with his other hand.

“Swallow.” Adam orders.

Ruby’s throat convulses. She tries to shake her head once more but Adam doesn’t give in.

“Swallow it Ruby.” Adam’s voice growls with a note of finality.

Desperate for air, Ruby swallows several times, drinking his cum. Only when he’s satisfied does Adam finally pull Ruby off of him. Ruby looks away from him, coughing into her hand, but there’s nothing left to spit out.

“You’ll get better with practice.”

Ruby doesn’t want to think about ever having to do something so horrible again. She wipes the spit from her mouth avoiding Adam’s face. Slowly she tracks her eyes over to the bedroom door, regretting asking to stay in the same room as Adam.

“Don’t look at the door.” He warns.

Ruby drops her eyes. Adam shrugs his pants down the rest of the way, stepping out of them. Ruby closes her eyes. She knows what’s coming next.

“Get down on your hands.”

“Adam-” Ruby protests.

“Don’t talk back.” Adam bites.

Miserably, Ruby leans down onto her hands, feeling Adam lift her hips up higher and push her legs out farther. His hand presses down on the back of her neck until her face is touching the floor. Ruby’s hips jerk when he touches her entrance. Adam slides a finger in, deceptively gentle. Ruby remains stubborn stamping out the feelings of pleasure that start warming in her belly. Her clit aches for attention and Adam delivers, pinching it methodically. Ruby’s legs jerk, trying to close, and Adam takes her reaction as a sign to be more aggressive. She pants against the floor, mouth hanging open as she fights the moans that try to spill out. Adam inserts a second finger, and Ruby chokes on a whimper. She claps a hand over her mouth pressing her hot forehead to the cool floor.

“What’s wrong Ruby?” Adam purrs.

Her chest heaves, body shuddering each time he strokes her clit. Ruby clenches her eyes shut at his words. Adam suddenly digs his thumb into her sensitive button while his other two fingers still relentlessly pump into her. Ruby’s hips buck and she isn’t able to stop a moan from escaping.

“Don’t hold back for my sake.” Adam laughs.

Ruby bites down on her tongue until she tastes blood. Adam pulls a hand away from her clit and smoothes it over her backside. Ruby yelps when he slaps her ass gripping the flesh and rubbing the sting into her skin. Even if she keeps her mouth closed, Ruby can’t contain her cries as he hits her over and over again. By the fifth time, Ruby shies away from his touch, too sensitive to handle the pleasure or the pain. Adam grips her hips and pulls her across the floor until her legs are spread around his. She can feel his hot arousal pressing against her entrance. Her body begs for it and Ruby shakes her head against the floor.

“It hurts.” She wails.

“You’ll learn to enjoy it.” Adam murmurs, lining himself up.

Ruby tenses but Adam doesn’t force himself in to the hilt taking the time to slide in the tip. Ruby waits for the pain but it doesn’t come. Adam lays over her back, his hips slowly coming to meet hers. Ruby pants as they’re joined together unable to stop herself from clenching around his thick member. Adam rubs his hand against her side, reaching under her to pinch her nipple. Ruby cries out sharply surprising her. Adam rolls his hips carefully, dragging himself out to the tip before sliding back in. Ruby’s head is swimming, the pleasure and arousal she’s feeling eroding her sense of self. She resists the deep urge in her to reciprocate. Ruby’s moans echo from the floor. Adam leaves her breast and rubs her clit. Ruby’s body seizes under him. She’s feeling it too much.

“A-Ah, Adam please, I can’t take it.” Ruby begs, shivering.

Adam sighs above her, also feeling the pleasure if his throbbing member was any indication.

“Yes you can.”

Ruby shakes her head against the floor. She’s losing the fight against herself. The longer Adam tortures her the more she craves it. Pleasure is permeating all of her being and Ruby’s resistance weakens. Adam bites down on her neck and Ruby winces in response. The pain is a welcome distraction, though, and Ruby suspects Adam is trying to prolong this for as long as possible. Adam quickens his pace, rutting into Ruby now, and she feels herself grow so wet it starts to drip down her legs. It feels good. Ruby doesn’t want to accept it but she can’t hide her arousal anymore.

“Give in Ruby.”

Ruby starts to cry, shaking her head furiously.

“No.” She protests.

“I know you want to. You’re dripping all over me. Go ahead and cum.” Adam croons, stroking up her belly.

He pauses inside of her and Ruby looks over her shoulder in confusion. Adam plays with her nipple and when she shudders, Ruby feels his deep laughter reverberate in his chest. His hand leaves her chest and slides down between her legs where they are joined. Ruby claps a hand around her mouth. Adam flicks her clit and Ruby clenches around him, hips fighting to push back onto him. She bursts out into pants when he vigorously rubs her clit with two fingers. Noises of pure pleasure come from Ruby who is unable to hold herself back any longer.

“Please, please-” She begs, shoulders shaking from her silent sobs.

Adam continues stimulating her until Ruby starts screaming. Her orgasm drops onto her and she bucks her hips back into Adam desperate for him to move. Ruby clenches around his member still buried inside of her wanting nothing more than for him to bury himself in deep and plant his seed into her womb. Adam doesn’t stop nor does he move as Ruby writhes in ecstasy underneath him. Slowly, Ruby comes down from her high, and guilt follows. She blinks tears from her eyes, disgusted with herself. Adam pries a few more overstimulated moans from her before finally stopping. Ruby closes her eyes and rests against the floor, sweat trickling down her brow.

“Good girl.” Adam whispers, shifting behind her.

It isn’t until he is moving that Ruby feels Adam still rock hard inside of her. She’s too sensitive and tired to continue going.

“Adam...” Ruby whimpers.

Adam grips the hair at the nape of her neck and lifts her head up. Ruby cranes her neck to try and relieve the pain.

“Don’t be selfish now.”

Ruby shudders as he moves inside of her while speaking. She doesn’t like the tender way he continues to treat her despite doing horrible things.

“Be good and moan for me.”

Adam punctuates his words with a sharp thrust. Ruby cries out loudly, body responding eagerly. Adam snaps his hips into hers and Ruby starts to melt into the pleasure. All of her thoughts sink under the waves of bliss and disappear. There’s just the glorious sensation of Adam throbbing inside of her and how good it makes Ruby feel. Adam breaks his rhythm, hips stuttering and Ruby pushes back accepting him deeper. Adam groans suddenly, his fingers digging into the flesh of her hips. Ruby cries out in pain but also in pleasure. Adam pulses inside of Ruby and warmth spreads out in her womb. Ruby’s legs shake as cum starts dripping out of her. Buried all the way to the hilt, Adam moves Ruby’s hips on top of him, grinding his dick into her cervix. She whines from the overstimulation, trembling in his grasp.

Adam pulls out finally and both of them groan. Ruby drops to the floor without Adam to hold her up anymore. She can barely keep her eyes open not even putting up a fight when Adam wipes at the fluids coming out of her. He shoves his fingers into her mouth and Ruby makes a surprised noise, embarrassed to be tasting something as dirty as their mixed juices. It has a tangy, salty flavor she hasn’t experienced before. Ruby swallows and Adam removes his hand. She pants with an open mouth looking up at Adam in exhaustion. He takes in her pitiful form for a moment then stands up. Ruby doesn’t watch him as he walks around her. She hears him pick up the lantern and walk out of the room leaving her in darkness. Ruby simply closes her eyes and focuses on calming her labored breathing. The sound of the rain lulls her into sleep and the young girl is too tired to even crawl into the bed. As she is on the brink of unconsciousness Ruby hears Adam’s footsteps once more.

The light returns to the room slightly rousing Ruby. Adam walks to her still form and she feels his hand grab her injured foot. Ruby whines, alarmed, and weakly tries to resist. Adam holds on and Ruby blearily opens her eyes. Her foot stings with pain, startling her. Ruby props herself up on an elbow, clamoring to escape.

“Quit moving or I’ll tie you down.” Adam threatens.

Ruby pauses, believing him but is also able to see that he is cleaning the gash on her foot with antiseptic. There is gauze next to him and Adam uses it to wrap her foot once he’s finished. Ruby watches him silently, perturbed by how he has been treating her since confronting him on the lawn.

“Why are you being so nice?” Ruby asks timidly.

Adam doesn’t reply, ignoring her. Ruby grows more uncomfortable the longer the silence stretches on. Adam places her foot back on the floor and stands up. Ruby watches him walk to the door and come back with the towel she had left on the handle earlier. Adam drops it beside her and picks up the lantern. Ruby glances at the towel and then back to him, waiting for an explanation. Adam’s lip curls.

“Clean yourself.”

The tips of Ruby’s ears burn as she uses the towel to wipe the inside of her legs, surprised and also nervous at the amount of semen she is cleaning off of herself. Adam watches her the entire time and Ruby hunches her shoulders, intimidated by his presence. When she’s finished, Ruby leaves the towel next to her and starts to stand. Adam doesn’t offer to help. Ruby balances precariously on her one foot and glances at Adam nervously.

“Is it okay if I sleep in the bed?” Ruby can’t bring herself to look at him.

Adam stoops to pick up the lantern.

“Yes.”

Ruby hobbles over toward the bed as Adam extinguishes the light in the room. Unable to see, she feels in front of her for the bed and trips over her own boots. Ruby’s thud echoes in the room and she cringes. She can hear Adam’s exasperated sigh. Crawling back up onto her feet, Adam suddenly picks her up and hauls her onto the bed. Ruby bounces when she lands, shocked by his strength. Without wasting any time she slips under the covers. The mattress dips when Adam gets in beside her. Ruby swallows, waiting for him to do something again. A few moments pass and nothing happens. Ruby sighs, curling in on herself. At first, she’s too anxious to fall asleep, but her body’s exhaustion catches up to her and she falls into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby stares at the water in the bathtub. Her face is ashen and she feels nausea roiling in her stomach. Two weeks. Adam had kept her prisoner in this decrepit cabin for two weeks and Ruby hadn’t managed to get any information out of him about Weiss. She thinks of Yang and her father. Ruby knows they must be worried sick about her, desperately searching for how she could’ve disappeared without a trace. Her eyes fill with tears. Ruby wipes them away and stands in the tub, wincing as she puts weight on her foot. The wound she had gotten the night of the Ursa attack had yet to heal. Ruby had done her best to stay off it but it would wake her in the night throbbing painfully. She gingerly settles on the edge of the tub, folding her leg on her lap so she could examine the bottom of her foot. The slit was an angry red, the green puss of an infection visible in the cut. Ruby grimaces and lightly probes around her injury. A sharp pain spikes up into her ankle. Sighing, Ruby puts her foot back down on the floor. Adam keeps all of the supplies hidden away from her. Ruby would have to ask him for new gauze and antibacterial ointment.

Ruby grabs the towel and uses it to pat herself dry. Wrapping it around her body for modesty’s sake, she hobbles back to the bedroom, stifling a yawn on the way. Her aura had been fully replenished, but for some reason, she felt more tired than ever. Ruby had initially thought it to be the concussion, but she didn’t have headaches anymore. Still, she doesn’t think too hard about it. There was nothing else better for her to do with her time besides sleep anyways. Adam would be gone before she woke up in the morning and came back only to feed her at midday. Ruby struggled to move around the cabin with her injured foot, but the pain hadn’t stopped her from walking out back and attempting to decrypt the padlock. Her previous attempts had been unsuccessful, but Ruby hadn’t given up yet. The day she unlocked that box would be the day she escaped.

Until then, the huntress found herself bored most days and searched the cabin for anything to use as a weapon. Most of the stuff she managed to scrounge from the trash was just that, useless. Ruby was sure a flimsy metal wire wouldn’t be able to put a scratch on Adam in a fight. Sometimes, her thoughts whispered that she could always attack him in his sleep, permanently incapacitate him, but Ruby was too horrified by the idea to even entertain it. Adam was horrible, sure, and he treated Ruby like an animal, yes, but she couldn’t _kill_ him. Part of her still clung to the notion that maybe he would realize what he was doing was so wrong he would set her free. Ruby knew not to hold her breath, though.

The girl sat on the bed and raked her hands through her wet hair. She hadn’t seen her reflection in a long time and was reluctant to think about how she must look. She did her best to keep herself clean now that she had been stripped of any and all clothing. That, at least, was one thing Adam hadn’t been policing. Her stomach rumbles loudly in the silence filling the room. Ruby had always had a large appetite for a girl her size and Adam liked to use food against her. _I’m only eating once a day, that’s why I’m so tired_. Ruby reassures herself. Her mouth stretches in another yawn. Ruby sniffs and takes the towel off of herself, dropping it onto the floor. After spending so much time naked, it didn’t bother her as much anymore. The only time she felt self-conscious was when Adam had his hands on her, roaming and moving them down- Ruby shakes her head. Thinking about it only made her feel worse. She slides under the sheets and closes her eyes.

* * *

Ruby sprints through the woods. There’s rain pouring from the skies, and she can’t see where she is going. Lightning strikes, and for a moment she can see around her. Slowly her head turns behind her and sees Adam’s figure standing only a few feet from her. Ruby’s scream is caught in her throat. Everything goes black. Thunder crackles and Ruby feels herself vibrate from the force. She sobs, her tears mixing in with the rain streaming down her face. Stumbling further she waves her arms in front of her wildly. Over the sound of the pouring rain and the rumbling thunder, Ruby can still hear his footsteps, ominous and persistent. In her heart, she cries for her sister, her father, her uncle, for someone to come save her.

Ruby trips in the darkness and falls to the forest floor. Lightning flashes once more and Ruby sees Adam in front of her. The red blade of his sword glows in the darkness and thunder echoes around them. Ruby can’t find enough courage in herself to say anything. Ruby watches the sword lift over her head and higher still. Ruby wants to scream and she feels it build in her chest, but nothing comes out. She grovels at Adam’s feet, grabbing his ankles and pressing her face against the dirt. Terror grips her entire body and Ruby is so scared this will be it. Adam will swing the sword and her head will be rolling into the underbrush.

“There’s nowhere you can go, that I won’t find you.”

Adam doesn’t sound like his usual self. His voice is guttural, distorted and it sends chills through her. Ruby lifts her head, staring in numb fear at the being in front of her. Adam’s hair, his mask, the patterning on his clothes, they all glow red. He looks like a demon. Ruby chokes, his hand suddenly around her throat, lifting her into the air. She can’t breathe but her eyes stare at the sword in Adam’s hand. Held high, it wavers for a moment and then comes down straight for Ruby’s face. Her flailing hands go up, covering her face, a choked scream still caught in her throat.

* * *

Ruby gasps, bolting upright. In the corner of her eye, she spots a shadow. A half-scream escapes her lips and she leaps to the side of the bed. Adam stands next to the bed and Ruby lets out a harsh exhale, clutching a hand to her chest. His presence makes her nervous, but she’s relieved it isn’t another deadly surprise like the Grimm from the other night.

“Is this what you do all day? Sleep?” Adam asks, disgusted.

Ruby lowers her gaze and says nothing. She notices the sun coming in from the window casts a pink tint across the floor. The shadows have grown long and she wonders how long she has been sleeping. Her stomach protests, this time louder, and she realizes it must have been at least half the day.

“Can I eat?” Ruby asks, looking up at Adam.

His appearance never changes, no matter how much time they spend out in the wilderness. Ruby had expected with his dark clothes the dirt, leaves, or something would stick to him, but he always remains clean. Too clean, actually, Ruby grew more suspicious with every passing day. Adam was up to something she didn’t know about yet but Ruby intended to figure it out.

“Now?” Adam sounds annoyed and rubs the back of his neck.

He’s in a foul mood and it grates against her nerves. She's his prisoner and he acts like her basic needs are a burden! Ruby takes a breath to calm herself before she speaks. 

“Well, I haven’t eaten yet today...” She reminds him.

Adam says nothing for a moment and Ruby notices his distraction. Whatever he’s doing while she’s sleeping, it’s on his mind. Ruby files the note away in her head, saving it to be pursued another day.

“Fine.” Adam relents, dropping his hand.

He turns his back on her and walks to the door. Ruby slides out of bed and steps down onto the floor. She cries out immediately, unable to hide the pain that grips her leg. Adam stands in the doorway, staring at her. Ruby glances at him, nervous.

“I-It’s infected. I think there’s a piece of glass still stuck in my foot.” She explains.

Adam crosses the room and crouches in front of Ruby. It takes all of her willpower not to lean away from him or jerk her foot away when he grabs it. Adam lifts her foot and studies it. Ruby swallows a yelp of pain at his careless treatment. He drops her foot and stands, sighing as he goes.

“You’re so careless. You have no clothes and there’s not a scratch on you. I left you your boots but now you’ve got an infected cut?” Adam complains.

Ruby scoffs, gripping the sheets in anger.

“You stole my weapon! I couldn’t defend myself when the Ursa attacked-”

“Even if I gave you your weapon back you’d just cut your arm off next.” Adam snaps, interrupting her.

For a moment, Ruby was at a loss for words. Anger overtook all of her reasoning and she was screaming before she had a chance to stop herself.

“This is your fault! You’ve kidnapped me and put me here! You’re a monster!”

Ruby’s tirade is cut off as Adam strikes her across the face. She puts a hand up to her burning cheek. Her hair covers her stinging eyes. Ruby looks back up at him, preparing to launch more insults but Adam is faster. His hand hits her again and this time the force sends her sprawling across the bed. Ruby’s face is numb and pain radiates from deep in her jaw. Tears leak from her eyes as she cries against the sheets. Adam grabs her arm and Ruby protests weakly, pulling her arm away from him.

“Get up!” He snarls, ripping her from the bed.

Ruby falls to the floor, her leg giving out when she puts pressure on it. Adam refuses to relent and begins dragging her across the floor. Ruby sobs and tries wrenching out of his grip. He is so much stronger than her and never misses an opportunity to remind her. Lost in his anger, Ruby is afraid Adam might do something to really hurt her. Terrified by that thought, Ruby grabs the doorframe, clutching it and trying to retract her arm. Adam pauses for a moment when Ruby manages to stubbornly hold on. Quicker than she can realize Adam releases her and steps over Ruby’s body. Dropping to his knees, Adam peels Ruby from the doorframe and throws her to the ground. Ruby sits up and is promptly pinned back down to the floor. She grunts when her face meets hardwood and grits her teeth. Adam fists his hand in the back of her hair painfully. He yanks her head up and puts his mouth next to her ear.

“I thought we were past this, Ruby.” Adam sounds calm but impatient.

Ruby’s not fooled. She doesn’t have to look at him to know he’s livid. The thinly veiled threat in his voice scares her into submission.

“I’m sorry.” She sobs, not truly knowing what she’s apologizing for.

Adam isn’t convinced.

“You plead and beg me to keep you around. You say you’ll listen but you never do.” Adam gives her head a fierce shake.

Ruby breathes heavily, mind racing. Her scalp cries in pain but she’s helplessly trapped underneath his body.

“Adam-” She attempts to placate him.

“Listen to me!” Adam yells, pulling her neck back farther than it can go.

Ruby gasps for breath, eyes still wet with tears. The pain steals her voice away.

“I’ve tried to be patient with you, Ruby, but you’ve left me no choice.”

Ruby feels panic begin to bubble up inside of her. Adam releases her hair and she drops her head gratefully. He stands up, and Ruby rolls over, staring up at him in fear. Adam grabs her by the ankle and jerks her out from the doorway.

“Wait! Please, wait.” Ruby begs, hands grasping for anything to hold onto.

Adam ignores her and drags Ruby down the hallway. It fills her with fresh terror and she screams the entire time, working herself back up into sobs.

“Let me go!” She wails, kicking her legs.

Adam does release her, to Ruby’s surprise. She pauses and stares at him in surprise but her face quickly morphs into fear when Adam steps toward her. Ruby cringes and he grabs her arm, hauling her up just to throw her back down. Ruby falls against the floor and pain sings throughout her body. She wants to turn around and spit at Adam but he slams the door behind her. Her eyes widen at the sound. Ruby crawls to the door and grabs at the handle, but even though it twists, the door won’t open. Ruby wants to scream her lungs out and bang at the door until he opens it, but she’s overtaken by her tears. She buries her face in her hands as she weeps, feeling utterly pathetic. Ruby is still hungry and her foot aches. The young girl curls up on the floor and sobs until she cannot anymore.

The sun has dipped below the horizon and Ruby can barely see the door from where she’s curled up on the mattress. After she had exhausted herself she had crawled to the makeshift bed wanting nothing more than to fall asleep and wake up surrounded by her team and out of this nightmare. But there are still no blankets in this room and as much as Ruby hates Adam she misses the warmth he provides. She stretches her leg out and winces. The pain radiates from her calf now and she’s worried the infection is growing worse. Part of her is scared Adam will cut off her leg. She silences that paranoid part of herself. Ruby’s mouth pinches when she thinks of how Adam has trapped her in the back room. Still, she’s frustrated with herself for throwing a tantrum. Part of her is indignant, believing she has done the right thing, but deep down she knows acting up is only working against her best interest. Ruby will have to plead for his forgiveness and she knows it will only get her so far. She’s really made him angry and doubts he will give her the same privileges she had before. Ruby snorts at the thought. She lives as a slave, what privileges does she have? She shakes her head. She can be angry later. Survival comes first and it will be harder to escape now that he’s keeping her confined to one room.

Ruby yawns and settles into a more comfortable position before closing her eyes. She listens to the wind rustling the trees. Ruby tries to sleep but the hunger in her stomach keeps her awake. She’s also thirsty. Ruby mentally wills herself to not think about how desperately she wants food. Instead, she thinks about her sister, Yang. Ruby wonders if she has returned to Signal. Her poor father, just the thought of him brings tears to Ruby’s eyes. He must know she is missing by now. Ruby wants nothing more than to go home and be gathered up into one of his big hugs. She swallows thickly and wipes the tears running down her face.

If there was just any way to let them know... Ruby suddenly remembers Adam pocketing his scroll. He always had it on him, Ruby had never seen him place it down for a moment. If she could just get a message through then she had a chance of being found. As much as she hated to admit it, escaping by her own means was looking more and more difficult by the day. Ruby runs over various scenarios in her head until she grows sleepy. Her last thoughts are of being rescued by her Uncle Qrow, his red cloak flapping behind him and the blade of his weapon against Adam’s neck.

* * *

Ruby is startled out of her sleep by Adam opening the door. She sits up and tries to keep her fear from showing. As much as she wants to say something, Ruby waits. Adam steps into the room and sits on the corner of the bed. Ruby has to force herself to remain still. She was focused so intently on remaining calm she didn’t notice what Adam was holding. There’s a mini kit of tools tucked in a fabric sleeve, a bottle of alcohol, and a roll of gauze all of which he places on the bed. Ruby’s shoulders sag in relief for a moment but she quickly reminds herself to not let her guard down. Adam unrolls the gauze and clips a piece of it off. He’s silent as he grabs her ankle and moves her foot on his lap. Ruby holds her breath when he soaks the gauze in alcohol and wipes at her infected wound.

The pain is incredible. Ruby jerks her leg without realizing a cry escaping her lips. Adam’s hand snatches her ankle back gripping it hard enough to make her wince. She can see his jaw is clenched and tries to stay quiet. The alcohol burns bad enough it brings tears to her eyes. Ruby gasps silently, her nails digging into the mattress. Adam discards the gauze and she can see it’s covered in yellow puss and brown, dried blood. Ruby closes her eyes when she sees Adam grab a pair of tweezers. Her body tenses as it waits for the pain. The metal digs into the cut and Ruby yelps, moving her leg again. Adam’s voice cuts through her pained stupor.

“Scream again and I’ll make it hurt.”

Ruby claps a hand over her mouth, tears squeezing out of her eyes when the tweezers bury themselves into her wound. The pain radiates up her foot and aches into her thigh. She tries counting to herself, desperate to distract herself from the pain. Ruby feels him tug on the piece of glass, the epicenter of her pain. She bites down on her tongue tasting blood when he dislodges it. Immediately, she can feel the relief from where the glass was removed. Ruby jumps when the familiar burn of the alcohol cleans out the cut. She peeks her eyes open and watches Adam as he wraps her foot in gauze. When he removes his hands, she can see they’re covered in blood. She worries he will be disgusted and somehow turn that into anger at her. Ruby pulls her leg back towards herself when he releases it.

“Thank you.” Ruby says as he wipes his hands off.

Adam doesn’t look at her. Ruby drops her eyes, hating how he was treating her like a child.

“I’m sorry. For what I said yesterday. I was just really hungry.” Ruby mutters.

Adam gives no indication that he’s heard her. Ruby tells herself to not get frustrated. When he doesn’t answer she wracks her brain to think of something else to say that might appease him. She spends too much time thinking and Adam stands, leaving the room.

“Wait, can I-” Ruby starts, moving to rise.

Adam shuts the door. Ruby closes her mouth and sits back down. Her foot is still sore, so she props it up on the mattress. Based on the light yellow rays in the room, Ruby assumes it’s early morning. She would go back to sleep, but the pain had been strong enough to erase any of the drowsiness she was feeling. Ruby sighs and looks around the small, bare room. She flops on her back and stares at the ceiling. The young girl wonders if Adam will return. Maybe next time he will let her out of the room.

* * *

Adam does return, several hours later when the sun has moved to shine down overhead the cabin. Ruby had dozed on and off in the meantime, having tried the door and finding it was still locked. She sits up when he enters and spots the can of food in his hand.

“Adam, I-” She starts.

“Don’t bother.” He cuts her off.

Ruby hesitates. She wants the food in his hand so desperately she’s willing to do anything for it. Adam pops the top of the can and peels it back. Ruby watches as if she’s entranced. Her mouth is watering and it’s only vegetables. Adam places the can on the floor and straightens back up. Ruby wants to leap off the bed and start shoving it into her mouth but she restrains herself. However, Adam does nothing else and shuts the door. Ruby raises her eyebrows in surprise. She had expected him to flaunt his power over her in some way or say something crude. Unbothered, Ruby limps to the can of food and begins eating. Already, Ruby can tell the injury on the bottom of her foot has almost entirely healed. It brightens her somewhat melancholic mood.

When she finishes eating, Ruby frowns at her dirty hands. The cabin was not clean in the slightest and being dragged across the floor had left streaks of dust and who knows what else smeared across her naked body. If she can get a word in edgewise, the next time Adam comes she’ll ask to leave the room so she can bathe. Ruby crawls onto the mattress and stands on her uninjured foot, trying to peek out the broken window. The trees rustle in the wind and Ruby finds her eyes drawn to the frame of the window. Idly picking at it she attempts to lift it and after a moment of straining, it budges just an inch. Her eyebrows raise in surprise. Ruby had believed it to be too damaged to even manage to pry it open. Still, this is no small victory and she continues to work at the window managing to hoist it just an inch more open before deciding to stop. She doesn’t know when Adam will return and works on shutting the window. Flopping down onto the mattress, Ruby can’t hide the smile on her face. There’s still a chance for her to escape. She’s hesitant, knowing she needs to secure food before escaping, but slowly, her plan is starting to come together.

* * *

A week passes like this, with Adam coming into the room at different hours of the day and Ruby holding onto the prospect of escape to keep herself sane. Her foot has healed leaving only a thin scar behind. Ruby is grateful beyond words because now, she has a fighting chance if Adam discovers what she’s plotting. When she hadn’t been sleeping, she was working on lifting the window with her meager strength. One meal a day was starting to put a strain on her body. Instead of adjusting to starving half of the day, Ruby’s hunger was beginning to torment her. Although, part of her believed this was likely part of Adam’s punishment. He wanted her to repent, to be obedient and quiet. It wasn’t in Ruby’s nature to be obedient and quiet and the longer she suffered under the strain of hunger and Adam’s dominance the harder she found it to retain a sense of self.  
Ruby fluctuated between believing her life before being kidnapped was a dream and accepting this new reality as it was. Sometimes waking up in the old cabin, shivering and uncomfortable felt normal to Ruby. Other times she woke up confused, calling out for Yang or her father before realizing where she was. When she did, Ruby dissolved into tears, the aching in her chest too much for her to bear. Everything was painful now. Sleeping on the horrible mattress had given Ruby the worst backaches. If not her feelings, her body was wrought with pain. It should’ve made her resent Adam more, but instead, she was just tired. Too exhausted to even feel hatred towards him anymore, Ruby wouldn’t bother trying to speak to him when he came to give her food. She was his prisoner and if anything, he was leaving her alone.

Ruby had taken advantage of his ignorance and could now fit her head through the opening in the window. The first time she had done so, the huntress had gulped fresh air, the first sparks of life starting to burn again in her. To add to her excitement, at the bottom of her window, nestled against the cabin, were several large rocks. Ruby had initially been worried by them, not wanting to slip out of the window and hurt herself by falling onto them, but after staring at them for a moment, an idea had popped into her head. If Ruby could pick up the largest one and manage to smash it against the lock sealing the food away from her, she could leave the day she pried the window entirely open. Filled with excitement, Ruby had struggled with the window until the sun began to set and, forced to stop, promised herself she would escape soon.

Ruby had it all planned out. The day she opened the window open large enough to slip through, she would shut it and wait for the next day, early in the morning. Escaping from Adam meant she needed all the time she could get to put distance between the two of them. Unable to stop the anticipation flooding her, Ruby dedicated all the hours of the day she spent alone to lifting the window higher and higher. The frame itself was broken and shattered glass littered the windowpane. Opening it meant Ruby had to force it open and not slice up her arms in the process. Adam would notice if Ruby had cut herself and she wouldn’t be able to lie about what had done it. Aware of this, she took the time to pick the pieces of glass out of the window and hide it under the mattress where it met the wall. Adam had only ever sat on the corner of the bed, so it shouldn’t make any noise if he didn’t actually crawl onto the mattress.

When Ruby had removed all of the visible pieces of glass, she really went to work on the window. But the girl was shocked to see how little she could do. Wrenching the broken window open without busting the glass, alerting Adam, and risking permanently getting the window stuck seemed like a mildly impossible task. Ruby had already considered her other options. Why not bust the window out one morning and scramble out? It was too desperate of an attempt. Ruby would slice her skin to ribbons without any clothing. Open wounds, infection, hoping to not run into Grimm while already injured, it was a suicide plot. Ruby had thought of attacking Adam with the glass she had managed to gather when he walked into her room. Except Adam always carried his sword and would easily overpower her. Ruby had sustained enough injuries from him to make any stupid decisions like that again.

No, her next idea had to be well-planned. She needed to be patient if she wanted to succeed. Ruby knew acting as if she slept all day and was slowly becoming more subservient to Adam was the best guise she would get. Even if it wasn’t too far from the truth, it was all Ruby had. If she couldn’t hold onto the hope of escaping she truly might break underneath him. Desperate, Ruby bruised her forearms on the windowpane while she struggled and hid them in her lap when Adam came. Adam, having noticed her reluctance to make eye contact and refusal to speak to him, seemed to have accepted this, sometimes hardly bothering to walk in the room at all. So Ruby believed, at least.

Adam walks into the room and leaves the door open one day, taking the young girl by surprise. Ruby always makes sure to stop fiddling with the window before the sun begins to set, knowing Adam will be returning soon. She sleeps until he comes in hopes of propagating the idea that she’s doing nothing but wallowing in her misery. The opening door wakes her as it always does and she rises to her feet without a second thought before realizing Adam has ventured into the room. She masks her surprise with neutrality and waits.

“You reek.” Adam curls his lip at her.

Ruby says nothing, remarking to herself that if he let her out of the dark, musty room for more than ten minutes a day perhaps she would, indeed, smell better.

“Did you piss yourself waiting for me?” The mocking tone is back.

Ruby refuses to engage with him knowing it will only end with her in pain. Adam lets her use the bathroom once a day when he is present, and Ruby has too much pride to dare urinate in the room she’s confined to. After all, the urge isn’t too strong when she gets to drink water once a day anyways. She doesn’t meet his gaze so Ruby can’t see his mouth turn sour when she says nothing.

“Let’s go.” He growls, turning around.

Ruby notices Adam is expecting her to follow instead of demanding she leave first. Ruby takes it as a good sign Adam is growing less suspicious of her and walks out of the room. Their routine is mechanical now and Ruby has all the time in the world to freely observe his actions while she does what’s expected. Adam leans against the doorframe as Ruby relieves herself, no longer embarrassed that he’s there. Today, he hasn’t brought a can of food in with him, so Ruby trails after him as they step into the backyard. She waits, on her knees, for him to unlock the box and pick her dinner. Adam doesn’t need to ask, rather, demand for Ruby to kneel while she eats anymore. He picks the first can he sees as usual and drops it for her to take. Some days Adam forces her to eat from his hand or even beg her for the food but today he seems distracted as he pulls out his scroll and begins typing on it.

Ruby peels the top of the can off, eating the food as slow as she can. She had already made the mistake of eating so quickly she threw up the food right after and Adam had punished her for it. Ruby shudders when she thinks of his angry shouting and how he had left her to go the entire night and next day without water. Once, Ruby would have been curious about what Adam was so distracted by and what that might mean. Now, Ruby knew better. If Adam’s attention was elsewhere it meant she had more freedom. Ruby had ceased asking him questions since their fight that had gotten her locked in the back room. Ruby chews the canned corn lost in her own bliss of tasting sugar. Most of the canned food was heavily salted, leaving her thirsty and bloated. Ruby had never been a thicker girl, she was never built for extra weight. But slowly a pouch was starting to form, stomach pushing out ever so slightly as Ruby spent most of her time eating high sodium foods and sleeping. She really wouldn’t have noticed it if she had other things to occupy herself with, even clothes would’ve hidden the change.

“Hurry up.” Adam snaps at her, glancing over from his scroll.

Ruby doesn’t reply but she does eat quicker, not wanting him to take the food from her. She drinks even the water that’s left in the can, always grateful for extra liquid. When she’s done, she puts the can down and folds her hands in her lap. Adam quickly notices, pockets his scroll and walks inside. Ruby takes that as her cue and follows him. Adam lets her drink from the sink until she can’t anymore, and Ruby is grateful for at least that much. From there, the routine the two of them partake in is over and Ruby mindlessly walks back to the bedroom. Until Adam stops at the bathroom and calls out for her to stop. Ruby turns around.

“You need to bathe.” Adam jerks his head towards the tub.

Ruby doesn’t object. She wants to be clean, after all. Silently, she strips her boots and socks starting the bathwater. Adam doesn’t offer to help her wash herself as he did in the past and disappears from the doorway. Ruby shrugs and scrubs herself with the bar of soap until she’s satisfied. All of the sweat and grime comes off in the water and when she stands, Adam is back, this time with a towel. Ruby takes it from him, drying herself, but also watching him for a reaction. Adam is still distracted. It takes Ruby calling his name twice, soft at first and then louder, for him to look at her.

“What?”

“Do you want the towel back?” Ruby offers.

Adam takes it without a word and Ruby walks back to the bedroom she’s been confined to. Adam shuts the door once she’s in, but instead of feeling the usual despair settle in her chest, Ruby is somewhat sated. Having bathed, her vigor has been slightly renewed. She stretches before settling onto the mattress gazing up at the window over her head. _Soon_ , she promises herself, _soon I’ll be out of here_.

The next morning Ruby wakes up feeling like death. Her stomach is in knots and her body sweats. She rolls over with a groan, but it does nothing to relieve her pain. Ruby sits up and puts a hand over her mouth. Her abdomen clenches once, and she rushes over to the corner of the room, bile spilling out. She spits up nothing but water, mostly dry-heaving, her stomach empty. Shaking, Ruby sits back against the wall, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. For a moment, the huntress is scared she’s come down with a fever. But as quickly as it came, her nausea passes and, aside from some small tremors, Ruby feels mostly normal.

The incident spooks her, but Ruby tries to not put too much stock into it. Eating such a horrible diet was catching up to her. There was no reason to worry about it. Ruby repeats the same words to herself over and over, working at the broken window. She crams her small fingers into the windowpane, trying to pry back rotten wood to allow for the window to finally slide all the way up. She’s buried in her thoughts, reassuring herself when a piece of wood snaps and the window gives away. Ruby doesn’t realize her victory, at first. Only when a gust of air blows straight into her face does it dawn on her. The window has opened. Ruby claps a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming in joy. Dropping down to the mattress the girl begins to shake with silent sobs, so relieved to finally be free. Ruby wipes her skinny tears away, taking deep breaths. She can’t celebrate too soon. She will be free, but she just has to get through the rest of today. Just today, she promises herself as she shuts the window.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was kind of unhappy with this chapter when I initially wrote it and spent several weeks editing and changing it. Thanks for being patient!

Ruby stirs at some point in the night from her deep sleep, confused by why she’s awake. She wipes at the drool coming from the corner of her mouth and looks around herself. Her eyes fall on a pair of boots and she follows them upwards until she’s staring back at Adam. For a second, Ruby thinks she’s dreaming because how else would she be able to see him so clearly, but then quickly notices the lantern in his hand.

“Adam, what? Why?” Ruby starts, rubbing her eyes and sitting up fully.

Her mind is wrapped in fog and she can’t think through her confusion. Was he giving her food late at night now? Ruby looks and sees his hands are empty.

“Get up.”

Adam’s voice draws her gaze back up to his face. Ruby blinks at him. Something isn’t right.

“What’s wrong?” Suspicion starts to melt away her fogginess. Adam doesn’t move a muscle, his posture stiff.

“We’re leaving.” Something tells her it isn’t that simple.

Ruby can’t hide her surprise and barely manages to keep her emotions from spilling over. His answer isn’t enough for her.

“What?” Ruby echoes.

No, no, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Not when she had just begun to see her plan finally start to come together. She was going to escape tomorrow! Ruby clenches her hands into fists. The longer she sits on the mattress the more reluctant she becomes to leave it.

“Now? Why? Where are we going?” Her voice is loud and alarmed.

“Be quiet and let’s go,” Adam replies harshly, grabbing her forearm.

Ruby lets herself be pulled up, scrambling to think.

“I, but, this is too sudden.” She fumbles for words. So close, the words are on the tip of her tongue, her wits scattered to all corners of the room. Ruby can’t tell him she was planning to escape but she can’t think of a reason to stay that Adam would believe either. The nausea from the previous morning returns.

“This isn’t about you!” Adam snaps.

Adam lets out a frustrated huff and pushes Ruby towards the open door. For a second, relief makes her shoulders sag. He hadn’t found out about the window, then. Ruby stumbles towards the door when a horrible thought occurs to her and suddenly spins back around, looking at Adam with a terrified expression.

“You’re not, you wouldn’t, this isn’t,” She can’t say the words.

Adam’s lip curls at her reaction. Ruby feels a wave of desperation overtake her. He’s grown tired of her, no matter how quiet and obedient she had been pretending to be, it wasn’t enough. She surges back towards Adam, clutching at the front of his shirt. Her knees start to weaken and she slowly sinks to the ground.

“Please, don’t kill me! I’m sorry, I am, I really am, Adam please-” Ruby begs tearfully.

Adam grabs her hands and pries her off of him.

“I’m not going to kill you.” He sneers at her.

Ruby feels all of her strength leave her then, collapsing to the floor. She gasps in shallow breaths, grateful to be alive. She can hear her heart still thundering in her ears.

“Then, where?” She questions as she looks up at him.

Adam sighs, agitated, appearing to grow more and more frustrated the longer she wastes time panicking.

“Don’t worry about it, Ruby. Let’s go.” He says with a note of finality.

Ruby gives him a surprised expression. Adam rarely uses her name. He usually settles for calling her awful petnames or just cursing at her. Knowing she is wearing down on his patience, Ruby relents for the moment. She timidly stands and shuffles out the doorway. Adam trails behind her until they reach the other bedroom, of which then he calls for her to stop.

“Get your boots.”

Ruby furrows her brow, but obeys. Her mind is racing, putting the pieces together too late. Ruby steps into her first boot and opens her mouth to say something, but hesitates. Wherever Adam was taking her, it was out of the cabin. She glances at her other boot helplessly. She slides it on, glancing at Adam waiting by the door. Should she try to run? No, he would catch her easier than he did last time. Ruby bites her lip. Miserably, she walks over to him, praying he meant it when he said he wouldn’t kill her. He’s discarded the lantern leaving both of them in the dark hallway. Adam gives a light push against her back, indicating for her to continue, and Ruby defeatedly walks to the front door. Stepping out into the cool night air, Ruby takes a moment to breathe in the scents of the forest.

“Head to the right.” Adam breaks her out of her trance.

Ruby steps around the broken stairs of the porch and walks into the forest. The further they go, the stronger her fear grows. It quickly becomes too dark for her to see very far and Ruby casts wary looks around her at every noise. Adam guides her through the dark forest, capable of seeing what she cannot. That doesn’t, however, make him feel inclined in the slightest to warn Ruby of tree roots or rocks and she trips more than a few times. Several minutes pass and Ruby gathers the courage to speak.

“Adam, are you mad?” She whispers.

He’s quiet for so long, Ruby thinks he didn’t hear her. Just as she goes to ask in a louder voice, he answers.

“Just keep walking.”

He sounds distracted and Ruby glances over her shoulder, surprised to see him thumbing through his scroll. Ruby turns back around and frantically thinks of what she should do next. Should she grab it? Should she attack him? Ruby swallows nervously. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes, focusing on calming herself down. If she can turn around and snatch the scroll, she can use her semblance to escape immediately after. Then, while running, she will have just a moment to make a call. It’s not a well thought out plan; it’s rushed and impatient. But Ruby doesn’t have time anymore and this is her last attempt at escape before Adam whisks her away to another unknown place. Ruby opens her eyes, counting down in her head.

_Three, two, one-_

“We’re almost there.”

Ruby freezes. Adam has spoken suddenly and she can barely detect another, quieter voice crackling through the air. Ruby whips her head around her shoulder, staring at the scroll pressed against Adam’s ear.

“Takeoff in ten, okay, yeah. We’ll be there.”

Ruby trips while walking and collapses to the forest floor. She was walking straight back into the White Fang’s clutches! Not that she had quite ever escaped them to begin with. But once she was among them again, escape would be impossible. It was now or never. Adam pulls at her arm, trying to get her to stand.

“Stop being so clumsy, we don’t have the time.”

She wants to slap him. Ruby feels her tears build up and drip down her cheeks before she can do anything about it. She shakes her head mutely.

“Ruby, we don’t have time for another tantrum.” His voice is laced with tension and Ruby can hear the warning.

“Please don’t do this,” She whispers, clutching his sleeve, “Please just leave us alone.”

Adam’s grip turns painful and Ruby whimpers. He hauls her up and sends her stumbling forward.

“Walk.”

Ruby doesn’t hide how she’s crying as she walks. At some point her tears overtake her. She stops in her tracks, pressing her hands to her face. Adam ignores her weeping and pulls her forward, dragging her along by her arm. Ruby halfheartedly follows behind him, miserable and sniffling. A low buzzing noise permeates the silent forest. As they walk deeper into the forest, Ruby recognizes it as a bullhead. Fear coils in her stomach but Adam holds onto her firmly when she starts to lag behind him. As they grow closer Ruby can see the lights of the bullhead illuminating the area around it. In the clearing are two other White Fang members and Ruby feels her heart sink. When Adam emerges, Ruby in tow, they greet him, ignoring her entirely. Ruby sticks close to his shadow, unsure of what to do but knowing escape is impossible.  
Adam moves beside her and the light in the clearing shines on her naked body. The other two members glance at her, each doing a double-take. Ruby, confused at first, blushes a scarlet red, suddenly remembering she isn’t wearing any clothes. Her arms feebly try to hide her body from their view.

“Let’s go.”

Adam’s voice breaks through her haze and Ruby hurries towards him, taking his hand and boarding the plane. Adam hands her a blanket wordlessly and Ruby stares at it in shock. She takes it wordlessly and looks up at him but he has already turned away, shutting the helm of the bullhead. Ruby wraps herself in the blanket gratefully, staring out the window and watching the White Fang members wave at them from the edge of the clearing. Ruby waits while Adam fiddles with his scroll, still ignoring her. As the White Fang members grow smaller and smaller, the fight leaves her and she feels numb.

“Adam?” Her voice is dry and cracks.

He grunts in reply to her, not sparing her a glance.

“Can I have something to drink?”

He does glance at her briefly before going back to his scroll.

“Yeah.”

Ruby notices he is still obviously distracted and takes the opportunity to peek around his body. At the front of the bullhead she spots the pilot through the window of the door. They don’t turn around. Ruby moves her attention elsewhere and wanders to the other door at the back of the bullhead, poking her head through the doorway. She’s surprised to see the amount of cargo they’re carrying, crates stacked to the ceiling. At the far right of the room, there’s one cot pushed up against the side wall.

“Quit being nosy and stand still.” Adam barks at her.

Ruby snatches her head back and skulks over to the window. She waits patiently for Adam to finish whatever he’s doing. As she stands there, her stomach roils and not from the bullhead lifting into the sky. Ruby stares tearfully through the window as she’s transported to another unknown location, diminishing her chances of ever being found. She wants to rip the door open and jump but Adam would be on her in an instant. Ruby quietly wipes her tears with the blanket. It’s warm and is the only thing she can find comfort in right now.

“Here.” Adam hands her a bottle of water.

Ruby hadn’t noticed him briefly step into the cockpit and accepts the water wordlessly. It’s cold and tastes sterile which takes Ruby by surprise at first. She had been drinking the well water flowing to the cabin for so long she had forgotten about water tasting different. She drinks half of the bottle before Adam grabs her shoulder. Ruby jumps, sloshing water on the blanket. Adam takes no notice of her reaction and steers her into the back cargo room. After forcing her to sit on the cot Adam seals the room off and turns back to her. Ruby nervously pulls the blanket around her tighter. The vibrating is stronger in this room and she assumes they’re closer to the engine. As Adam approaches her, Ruby stares at his boots.

“We’re going to another safe house.” Adam starts.

Ruby raises her brows at him in shock. She hadn’t expected him to say anything about the situation to her. Adam crosses the short distance between them in two steps and is suddenly crowding her.

“Once we’re there, the only one who can protect you is me.” Adam’s fingers curl around her chin.

Ruby flutters her eyelashes closed. She feels as if a heavy weight is pressing down on her chest. If she breathes too deeply, just the slight pain would make her crack.

“If you disobey, you know what will happen.” Adam’s grip tightens.

Ruby nods silently. His hand loosens, thumb starting to stroke her cheek.

“You’ve been very obedient lately, I promise I’ll reward you.” There’s a lilt to his tone, a promise and Ruby isn’t quite sure she wants to know what he’s implying.

Ruby opens her eyes, lifting them to meet his face. Slow enough for her to react, Adam leans down pressing his lips to hers. Ruby fights the resistance in her body, forcing herself to not move a muscle. She tries to keep from crushing the water bottle in her hand, but she can’t stop her hands from shaking. Adam’s hand smoothes behind her neck and clasps the back of it. He pushes her lips harder against his before biting at her bottom lip. Ruby opens her mouth without question, letting him slide his tongue in. She still doesn’t really understand kissing and sloppily tries to imitate him. The water bottle is pulled from her hand and discarded somewhere behind his body. Once he’s grown bored of her attempting to reciprocate, Adam pushes her shoulder down to the cot and strips the blanket off of her.

Ruby holds her breath, trying not to whimper. Adam hadn’t bothered to touch her the week she had been locked in the back bedroom. His treatment of her then definitely doesn’t endear him to her now. Ruby cringes when his hand falls on her stomach. He presses lightly and Ruby twists underneath him. The feeling makes her nausea worse, so she pulls the bottom half of her body onto the cot and waits for Adam to lay on top of her. Adam settles at the end of the cot, which isn’t very far away and pulls her towards him. Ruby reluctantly lets him, sidling up next to his body. Adam puts his hand on the side of her head.

“Do you remember your training?” He suddenly asks.

Ruby arches a brow in confusion. She would never forget her weapon training, what kind of question was that? Adam presses down on the top of her head, lowering it until her face is next to his crotch. Oh, that training. Still, Ruby refuses to touch him unless he makes her do it.

“Pull the zipper down.” Adam orders.

Ruby scowls at his pants as she obeys, her face hidden from his view. Just under his pants are his boxers, which hide a bump. Ruby touches him, fingers trembling, and is surprised to feel how soft he still is. Even before when he’d forced her to put it in her mouth it had been hot and stiff. Unconsciously, she kneads him through his boxers, curious at how it thickens and grows, and glances up at Adam’s face when he shifts.

“Pull it out.” His tone doesn’t change and she’s surprised at how composed he remains.

Ruby at first tries to pull his boxers down too until Adam’s hands show her she can slip his dick through a hidden hole in the fabric. Ruby marvels at that fact quietly, wondering if it was intentional, how men’s clothes were constructed. Adam hardens under her grip with Ruby running her soft hand up and down his shaft. She waits until last minute, when Adam is pushing at the back of her head again, to put it in her mouth. It’s only her second time and she squeezes her eyes shut as she closes her mouth around the tip. Ruby remembers the last time and gags when Adam pushes her head down. She resists his strength by stiffening her neck but it doesn’t do much. Adam works her farther and farther down his length. Anytime Ruby wants to pull off entirely or move on her own Adam grips her hair. She is forced to lift her head up and down, methodically licking at him.

“Harder.” Adam flicks her cheek.

Ruby sucks until her jaw aches. Adam forces her past her limit, diving the head of his dick down her throat. Ruby chokes, again and again, tears coming out of her eyes. Adam only gives her a moment each time until Ruby breaks from his grip, coughing into her hand. Adam sighs in irritation, pushing her away to stand up so he can shrug his pants down further. Ruby looks up at him with her tear-stained eyes.

“If you can’t please me with your mouth then I’ll use your body.” Both his voice and face are taut with anger.

Ruby whimpers at his words, opening her mouth to protest but Adam points at the head of the cot.

“Lay down.”

“Let me try again,” Ruby starts, unwilling to have sex with him.

“Now.” Adam steps towards her threateningly and Ruby scrambles to lie back.

Adam positions himself over her, lining his dick up with her entrance. Ruby preemptively places a hand over her mouth to smother the sounds that will come out of her. Unlike before, Adam doesn’t rub her clit until she’s shaking or push a finger in to make her wet. He focuses solely on himself, pushing the tip into her tight hole. Ruby’s back arches as pain spreads out through her. She huffs through her nose, eyes involuntarily dropping down to where Adam is forcing himself in. The image makes her wince and her back arches as he goes deeper. Adam grips her thighs and uses them to help pull Ruby down around him. Her crying is muffled behind her hand but it still echoes in the small room.

Adam sighs deeply, head tipping back in pleasure. “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

Pain has her entire abdomen clenching, body rigid and shaking as Adam starts to move. Ruby sobs through her tears, the friction of him forcing her open rips at the inside of her. It burns in the worst way and Ruby’s voice only gets louder as the sharp stretching turns into a heavy, dull ache that pounds against her lower stomach. Ruby can only take a few more thrusts before she’s calling out for Adam to stop.

“Please, please, it hurts.” Ruby’s strains, chest heaving.

Her hands grab at his arms, his shirt, and reach further up. Adam grabs her one wrist painfully, forcing it back down to her side. Adam slows his thrusts as Ruby writhes underneath him, tears streaming from her eyes.

“Look up at me.”

Ruby peeks up at Adam from under the arm she’s slung over her eyes. Adam reaches up and pinches her nipple. A bolt of lust shoots through Ruby for the first time. She gasps slightly but tries to not move as it sends pain up from where they’re joined.

“You’re so obedient now.” Adam croons at her, twisting her nipple in his hand.

Ruby sniffles in response, body starting to respond to him.

“I tell you to lay down, you do. You submit to sex with me without question. Even if it hurts.” Adam continues, a slight smile on his face.

Ruby can’t believe he is pleased with how horribly he has treated her. It was his anger, his abuse that made her too afraid to protest. How he could make sex so painful sometimes, it extinguished any fire of defiance in her.

“I said I would reward you, so I will.” With that, Adam leans down to her chest, taking her erect nipple in his mouth.

Ruby moans instead of screaming in anger. The pain he just put her through, that was to prove to him she was obedient? Ruby can’t take it, her loathing surges up, overpowering her reason. Tears come from her eyes even as she gasps. Adam doesn’t have to work too long at her overly sensitive nipples before she is rocking her hips into his. Ruby cringes as she does, light pain still thrumming in her stomach. But as her arousal grows, Ruby finds it easier and easier to ignore the discomfort, even if it doesn’t go away. Adam laves both of her nipples with his tongue and Ruby arches, pushing them into his mouth. When his fingers find her clit she clasps a hand around his neck, using it to buck her hips into his hand.

Adam, also breathing heavier, starts to pull out of her before thrusting back in, stimulating her the entire time. Ruby clenches greedily around him not pausing even when a spike of pain goes through her. The pain won’t let her relax entirely, but she’s burning under her own arousal, overtaken by it. Ruby chases her own high, hips stuttering and unsure. Adam pulls her legs higher on his hips capable of slipping deeper into her now. Ruby cries out loudly and Adam pauses, putting a hand over her mouth.

“Be quiet.” He warns.

Ruby nods and covers her own mouth, still gripping his neck so she can have some control over the pace. Her thighs tremble when her pleasure starts to sweeten, the feeling of his fingers rubbing around her clit and the continuous thrusting all melting into a heady rush of lust. Ruby’s body grows incredibly sensitive, the plains of her skin feeling like a live wire. Submitting to her lust, Ruby opens herself to Adam groaning and whimpering behind her hand as she ruts against his hips, her orgasm long missed.

Surprising her, Adam lets out a low noise, his hand sliding from her clit to her thighs where his grip then turns painful. Ruby jerks away as he thrusts particularly deep, sending a stab of pain through her. She can’t stop the hard whimper that comes from her mouth, but Adam breathes heavily, grinding himself into the deepest part of her. Ruby’s surprised by the full body tremor that rips through her at the feeling, keening as Adam continues it once, twice, more before stopping. Ruby twitches as he pulls out from her, cum and blood following. Ruby tries to take deep breaths but the pain continues to throb inside of her. Adam drops the blanket back on her. Ruby tries not to think of the obscene amount of liquid pooling between her thighs. There’s nothing she can clean herself with. Adam fixes his clothes and barely gives Ruby a glance.

“You can sleep while I’m gone. I’ll come get you later.”

Ruby nods and covers her face with the blanket. She doesn’t think she can face the reality of what has happened yet. Once again, she’s been played by him. Closing her eyes, she expects to be kept up by her worries, but it’s too easy to slip back into unconsciousness and Ruby falls asleep without realizing.

* * *

“We’re here.”

Ruby sits up in alarm, looking around herself wildly. It feels as if only a few hours have passed. Adam leans against the stacked crates, calm, and holding something out to her. Ruby looks at the thin, red cloth dumbly, not understanding.

“What’s that?” Her voice is raspy with sleep.

“A blindfold. Put it on.” Ruby notices Adam is being his usual short and demanding self making her believe the small affection he had shown her before was entirely of her own creation. Although, Ruby isn’t sure if the way he manipulated her body could really be considered affection.

Ruby huffs in annoyance, but she takes it from him and ties it loosely around her head. She moves to stand up but pauses when a terrible pain spikes through her. God, Adam had been so rough with her. She takes short breaths through her nose, trying to be quiet, but Adam notices, slipping the blindfold off of her.

“What’s wrong with you?” He snaps.

“It hurts,” Ruby says through gritted teeth.

“You would be the type to give up over a few bruises” Adam drawls, giving her a pitying glance.

Ruby bites back the anger and the pain of being treated as less than human, and holds it deep within her. Adam reties the blindfold, this time tighter as if to prove his point and Ruby feels him pull her forward.

“Step up, over the doorway, yes, now there’s a step down, don’t trip.” Adam guides her out of the bullhead and Ruby smells fresh air.

She would be excited if the noises around her weren’t so terrifying. The blindfold prevents her from seeing anything, blocking out even the sunlight. Is there even sunlight? She isn’t sure, stumbling in Adam’s grip and hoping, at the very least, she doesn’t lose the blanket she’s wrapped in. Loud voices call all around her, metal scrapes against metal and concrete, and various other noises she can’t quite place echo until Ruby finds herself shaking even this close to Adam. What if he left her here suddenly? Blind and deep in enemy territory, Ruby has to shake the thought off before she became too scared to walk. The pair briefly pauses and Ruby has a moment to wonder why before the air around her shifts, taking on a cooler, damp quality. Ruby tightens her fist clutching the blanket, trying her best to brace herself for whatever comes next. Adam never stops his pace, confident and unwavering as he guides her into, well, wherever they’ve landed. Ruby feels her fear grow stronger, flinching at the small noises and distant voices she hears. If Adam notices, he doesn’t comment and it’s all she can do to keep herself quiet, just focusing on not stumbling as he leads her to what certainly feels like the point of no return.

Adam stops, eventually, and Ruby tries to understand what she’s hearing, but all too quickly he’s ushering her forward. The scent in the air changes once more. Ruby can’t tell exactly what it is she’s smelling but it’s different from before. Adam steps behind her and unties the blindfold. Ruby slowly blinks her eyes, trying to make out the room in front of her. It’s hard to do so, the carpets are red and the lighting is dim enough she can’t make out details quite yet. In her immediate vicinity is a bookshelf, a table, another door, and a... bed. Ruby feels her stomach drop.

“Is this my...?” She whispers.

“This is my room.” Adam begins as if he had never heard Ruby at all. She bites down on the inside of her cheek, looking down at the carpet.

“You like the color red right? I guess that’s something we have in common.”

Ruby can’t stop herself from giving him a baleful glare. Adam sees it and the easy smile on his face turns down with anger. Swallowing, Ruby quickly lowers her eyes to his chest as he steps towards her.

“You’re staying in here from now on,” Adam tells her.

Ruby’s head snaps up in disbelief.

“What about Weiss?” She explodes, the unanswered question she had held for weeks tearing out from inside of her.

“What?” Adam asks, regarding her as if she’s crazy.

Ruby wants to stomp her feet. It takes all of her willpower to not spew insults and demand he takes her seriously.

“If I’m here, where is she? Have you put her in a dungeon? Or done something worse?” Ruby challenges.

Adam rubs his jaw in annoyance.

“What are you talking about?” He scoffs, walking away from her.

Ruby feels her blood start to boil. So, he won’t take her seriously, then. Even after all of this, with not a word from him about what has been happening to Weiss, with how obedient she’s been, he won’t even give her this.

“You said you would reward me! So tell me, where is she?” Ruby’s voice is shrill.

Something in her starts to break apart. She can’t handle the pressure. Ruby is stretching herself so thin, reaching and reaching, trying to smother her defiant and ambitious nature. _Just tell me_ , she wants to scream at him. Afraid to be too close to him she stays firmly rooted near the door.

“You can’t keep me in here like a _dog_. You can’t do this people! Weiss-” Ruby breaks off, emotion closing her voice up. She digs her nails into her forearm, trying to be calm.

“Enough, Ruby!” Adam yells, spinning around.

Ruby snaps.

“Where is she! Where is Weiss!” Ruby starts screaming, dropping the blanket.

Adam is on her in a flash. His body traps her against the door and his hand clamps down on her cheeks.

“ _Never_ yell at me again.” He warns, his voice terrifying.

Ruby struggles to swallow and her jaw aches. She couldn’t form words if she wanted to. Her eyes water as she stares at Adam. Without thinking, her hand flies upwards and smacks the mask off of his face. Quicker than she can react, Adam throws her away from him and she hits the table in front of the door. Ruby opens her mouth in a silent scream, the hard wood slamming into her ribs. The noise reverberates throughout the small room. Adam’s hand fists in her hair dragging her from the table and onto the floor. Ruby’s skin stings from being grated against the carpet. She tries to cough, the breath being knocked clean out of her. She sucks in one weak breath and her ribs cry out in pain. Adam presses her face harder into the floor. He’s so angry the hand that isn’t gripping her hair digs into her forearm until she cries out.

“I thought you had learned!” He spits, flinging her onto her back.

Ruby sobs, clutching her bruised arm. Adam presses his hand into her windpipe, crushing it until she squirms.

“Do I have to break your bones? Will that teach you? Do you want me to hurt you, Ruby?” Adam is spitting in her face.

Somehow, Adam has replaced the mask on his face in the short amount of time it took him to react. His strength frightens her. Ruby spasms, kicking her legs underneath him. Adam easily maneuvers out of the way and sits on top of her knees. Ruby struggles desperately, terrified of dying, and too afraid of Adam to stop resisting. Only when the black spots in her vision overtake her, does Ruby’s movements turn into twitching, and then finally her limbs become too heavy to move. Adam releases her then, watching as she coughs and chokes on the air she sucks in too quickly.

“Even after all we’ve been through...” Adam shakes his head his voice much calmer. “When will you stop fighting me?”

Ruby sniffles, the beginnings of tears starting to well up. She moves to hide her face, but Adam pins her arms down.

“Go ahead and try to run through that door. As soon as you’re out, you’ll find yourself in a maze too complex for you to ever escape. Scream for help and the White Fang will be all too happy to end your miserable life.”Adam punctuates his words by squeezing her wrists.

Ruby yelps in response, looking up at him as she cries.

“Do you want to die?” Adam asks her, sounding too calm.

Ruby stares back at him, too afraid of answering.

“Do you!?” Adam yells in her face.

Ruby cringes, whimpering. “No!” She shakes her head, eyes squeezing shut.

“Then you better listen well, because your life depends on it.” Adam shifts his weight forward. Ruby gasps as Adam begins crushing her abdomen.

“I won’t tell you again. Submit to me or the White Fang will have its way with you.”

Ruby’s eyes fly open. Her brow furrows. Once again, she’s put the pieces together too late.

“What?” She whispers.

Adam glares at her ferociously, but it doesn’t deter her.

“You said- you said you would let Weiss go if I listened. Now you act like she’s never been here!” Ruby yells, twisting as much as she can underneath him.

“Who is- The Schnee?” Adam repeats in disbelief.

Ruby freezes, looking to him uncertainly. Her worst fear is true. Adam notices her expression immediately. He releases her arms, standing up quickly.

“Stand up.”

Ruby takes a deep breath, wincing at the pain in her throat and stomach. She barely manages to sit before Adam grabs a fistful of her hair and starts to drag her across the room. Ruby yelps in pain, burning her knees against the carpet as she struggles to follow him. Adam forces her onto the bed and smothers her face into the sheets. Ruby tries to lift her face so she can breathe, but Adam is relentless.

“I can’t believe you fell for something so stupid.” He hisses in her ear.

Ruby freezes. She wills herself, intuitively knowing, to keep fighting, to ignore what he’s going to say, but she’s too scared of the truth. Adam laughs, actually laughs behind her before forcing her legs to open.

“We’d never captured the Schnee, but you were so willing to be a slut, I let you believe what you wanted.” Adam continues, settling between her legs.

No, Ruby wants to say. He’s lying. That isn’t what happened.

“You were so good, taking everything I gave you.” Adam taunts her.

Tears stain the sheets. Ruby huffs into the bed, trying to hide her crying. Adam strokes the back of her thigh, mockingly gentle.

“It made it easier, didn’t it? You could say it was all for your friend and lie about how much you loved it.” Adam presses a finger against Ruby’s slit.

“No-”, Ruby wails into the bed.

It falls on deaf ears. Adam idly rubs a finger against Ruby’s clit, using her lust against her.

“How many times have I made you cum?” Adam wonders aloud.

Ruby’s ears burn bright red. Adam lifts her head up from the bed, arching her back.

“Answer me.” He demands.

“I-I don’t know,” Ruby gasps, shaking in his grip.

Adam slams her head back down against the bed. It gives Ruby whiplash and a dull ache throbs behind her eyes.

“Of fucking course you don’t.” He snarls at her.

Adam thrusts a finger inside of her. Ruby squeals at the sensation. She’s still incredibly tender from before. Adam probes around inside of her making her uncomfortable.

“I should make it hurt every time I fuck you. You’d pay attention then.” Adam’s cruel voice matches the force with which he pumps his fingers into her.

“No!” Ruby yelps, shifting her hips underneath him.

She doesn’t think she could take that, with all of his abuse too. She regrets provoking him, she always does, so why is she stupid enough to do it in the first place? Ruby clenches the sheets in her fists.

“A-Adam”, she starts.

“Shut. Up.” Adam gives her head a shake.

Ruby cowers away from his anger, body stiff against the bed. Adam fits another finger inside of her.

“You’re filthy.” He spits at her. “My cum is dried on your thighs and you’re still wet on my fingers.”

Ruby sobs trying to draw her legs together. Adam jerks them apart.

“Do you feel dirty?”Adam croons at her.

Ruby barely has a moment to register his words before he’s hauling her off the bed. Ruby panics, hands rising to give her some reprieve from the grip on her hair. Adam hauls her into the bathroom and dumps Ruby into the bathtub.

“Adam please-” Ruby starts, struggling to rise.

Adam turns the shower on, cold water spraying over her body. Ruby half shrieks, surging to get out of the tub. Adam holds her down, forcing her to stay put until she’s soaked and shivering.

“Even if I did let you go, who’s going to want a filthy whore like you?” Adam asks sweetly, smiling at her. “Your family? What would they think of you now?”

Ruby cries openly at his words, hating how nice he appears despite saying such horrible things. All of it has been a lie, from the beginning. She can barely handle the truth. She hiccups softly, turning her face away from Adam.

“What’s that?” Adam asks her gently, the spray of the shower wetting his hair down.

Ruby shakes her head violently, refusing to answer. He is everything like the demon in her dreams.

“Did you just cry for your father?” Adam laughs in disbelief. “What father would love a daughter who begs to get off on her kidnapper’s cock?”

Ruby jerks away from Adam, wanting to retort, the words burning in her throat. He made her like this! Ruby didn’t, she couldn’t ever enjoy sex with Adam. But something inside her whispers that it’s not true. Ruby does enjoy sex with him. Another chill washes over her body at the thought. Adam notices her silent war with herself and takes the opportunity to pounce.

“Admit it. You have no one but me.” Adam gives her a mocking smile.

Ruby narrows her eyes at him.

“You’re wrong. I have a family and a team-” She starts hotly.

“They all think you’re dead now anyway.” He shrugs, dropping the nice tone.

He plugs the tub and the cold water from the showerhead begins to rise above her ankles. Ruby, shivering uncontrollably, continues shaking her head, but her strength is leaving her. Her mind is too scrambled to think clearly.

“You’re lying.” She protests, voice hoarse.

Adam strokes her cheek in his hand. Ruby closes her eyes, silently crying.

“I bet you wish I was.”

Ruby doesn’t question it; she surges up and reaches for Adam’s face. Her anger blinds her and she can only think to hurt him in the same way he has hurt her. Adam leans back, surprised, but easily maneuvers around her flailing arms, grabbing the scruff of her neck and submerges her face in the water. Ruby doesn’t have a chance to breathe, it all happens so quickly. She half-screams with her face in the water, thrashing in Adam’s grip but it doesn’t dislodge him. Ruby digs her fingernails into his hand trying to pry it off of her, desperate to breathe. She doesn’t want Adam to kill her. Ruby doesn’t want to die. The words “I’m sorry” are lost in the water and bubbles rise up all around her. Adam pulls her up when her chest is burning and Ruby gasps for air. But as suddenly as he lifts her, he plunges her back down into the water. Ruby screams in frustration and terror. She struggles but her already weak body tires quickly. Again, when she almost starts sucking in water, Adam allows her to break the water’s surface.

“Adam-” Ruby gasps.

He pushes her back under. Ruby can’t stop herself from swallowing on a mouthful of water. When Adam lifts her head, she spews water and doesn’t have a chance to breathe. Back down, again. The cycle continues until Ruby’s body is motionless, her grey eyes dull and every muscle in her body is burning. Adam releases her, but Ruby doesn’t realize it until he is dragging her out of the tub. She lays on the cold tile, motionless and sputtering. Her lungs burn and her nose is plugged. Ruby feels her stomach clench and she vomits some water she accidentally breathed in onto the floor. Adam crouches down a foot away from her.

“Ruby,” Adam calls her name softly.

She coughs and takes another shaky, hoarse breath before lifting her eyes up to look at his chin. Adam wipes her wet hair from her face.

“If you want to live, never fight me again.” He smiles fondly at her.

Ruby nods mutely, letting her eyes flutter closed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I start college soon so I wanted to put this chapter up earlier than usual! As a result, this chapter hasn't been beta read cause I was too excited to post it. Thanks to everyone who's bookmarked this story and has left kudos. I read all of your comments and I appreciate the great feedback.

Ruby opens her eyes to the pitch black darkness in the room. She turns slightly before freezing. Adam lies next to her, sleeping. His even breathing is all she can hear but her heart thunders in her chest. For a long time, she continues to lie next to him, motionless. After taking a few breaths to prepare herself, Ruby inches to the side of the bed, arm searching for the edge. Clasping against the edge, she slides herself off ever so slowly and onto the carpet. After getting her feet onto the floor, Ruby braces herself on the side of the bed to slip down and crawl onto the floor. Without warning, a hand reaches out from under the blankets and snatches her wrist. Ruby yelps in surprise, cringing and waiting for Adam to drag her back onto the bed. There is a long pause but the hand doesn’t lessen its pressure.

“Ruby, what are you doing?” Adam asks from the bed.

His voice is clear as if he hadn’t been sleeping at all. Ruby takes a shaky breath, trying to stop the tears building in her eyes from falling.

“I-, um I was,” Ruby breaks off, breathless.

The hand squeezes her wrist. Ruby flinches in response.

“The bathroom, I-I have to use the bathroom.” She whispers, mouth dry.

Adam releases her easily.

“Be quick.”

Ruby’s heart stutters and she places a hand over her chest. Standing on shaky legs, she makes her way into the bathroom, feeling around for a light. Flicking it on, she can’t stop herself from noticing her own reflection in the mirror. Ruby squeezes her eyes shut and turns away, focusing on the toilet in the corner. Ignoring the tub and the mirror, she quickly finishes up and turns off the light, grateful for the darkness. While feeling her way back to the bed, Ruby knocks her shin against the corner of the table. Hissing under her breath, she crawls back in the bed, curling up so she can grab her shin. Adam shifts beside her and Ruby stills, hyperaware of his movements. He settles and silence stretches on until Ruby’s anxiety finally begins to ebb away.

Still, a pit has formed in her stomach. The thought of her reflection, even a brief glimpse of it, makes her feel sick. Ruby’s grey eyes had been sallow and tired, her petite face now angular. The sight of her collarbones sticking out from where they were revealed in her nightdress- it’s mortifying. The huntress no longer recognizes herself. She is thin and tired, the bruises standing out against her pale skin. The image haunts her for a long time and when Adam stirs next to her, Ruby feels as if she hasn’t slept at all.

Ruby doesn’t move as he slides out of bed moving around in the dark room. She closes her eyes and evens out her breathing so when he turns the lights on, he won’t think she’s awake. Ruby doesn’t know if she can face him right now. Luckily, Adam seems to have no interest in her this morning, or night, she never knows, isolated in this small room. She listens to him change his clothes, use the bathroom, and then turn the lights off before leaving the room. Ruby swallows when she hears the lock click. Opening her eyes in the dark, Ruby sits up, hand on her stomach. The pit in her stomach has formed into a roiling knot and she slips out of bed. Making her way into the bathroom, Ruby sits against the wall next to the toilet in the darkness. She focuses on taking deep breaths trying to calm her racing heartbeat. The knot in her stomach twists and Ruby heaves into the toilet. Her nerves are fried; Ruby is sick every time she wakes up. The stress is upsetting her stomach.

When she finally feels like she can stand, Ruby drags herself out from the bedroom and flicks on the lamp. The small room feels claustrophobic, but Ruby takes some sort of peace in knowing this place can also be her sanctuary. When Adam isn’t there, Ruby picks through the books on the shelf, makes the bed, and even cleans occasionally with the supplies under the bathroom sink. Most of the time though, she makes up for her lost sleep by curling up with a book at the table. Ruby was a slow reader, so she hadn’t managed to make it very far into the books. It was almost impossible to tell the time, but since she had arrived, Ruby had slept next to Adam over thirty times. By now, she had lost count and it didn’t seem like Adam was going to change anything anytime soon.

Ruby didn’t try to resist him anymore. She was too scared, too fatigued to fight back. Despite his presence always coming with the looming threat of pain, Ruby felt anxious when Adam wasn’t around. Her hold on reality felt as if it was slipping and he was the only thing to tether her back to the real world. That’s why she read his books, it was the only thing that reminded her she wasn’t insane.  
Ruby absentmindedly flips through the book in her hand until her eyes grow heavy. She falls asleep with her head propped on her fist. When her head droops she snaps back awake and continues reading until her eyes grow too heavy. At some point, while she is drifting in and out of sleep, Ruby hears the sound of the lock on the door. Her haziness evaporates and she slams the book shut in front of her, tucking her hands under the table.

Adam steps in and throws the door shut behind him, obviously irritated. She hunches her shoulders at the sound of the door slamming but keeps her eyes trained on the tabletop. Adam sits down across from her, dropping his scroll on the table with a loud clatter. Ruby jumps slightly and bites down on her cheek. Sometimes Adam came back indifferent and ignored her for the majority of the time before he went to sleep. Other times, he came back as visibly agitated as he was now and Ruby was always afraid to find out what that meant for her. Silence stretches between the two of them and Ruby focuses on taking long breaths.

“You didn’t change.” Adam comments.

Ruby blinks at the table. Her fingers dig into her nightdress.

“I forgot.” She whispers.

Adam snorts.

“Would you even know how to take care of yourself if I wasn’t here?” Adam complains, standing up.

Ruby bows her head in response. Adam walks into the bathroom and flicks on the light. After a moment, Ruby hears the sound of the shower, and her stomach drops. She looks up nervously as Adam comes back into the room.

“Adam-” Her voice dies.

Without a word, Adam grabs her forearm and pulls her up. Ruby obeys wordlessly, stumbling behind him and into the bathroom. Once they both enter, Adam leans against the bathroom sink and stares at her. Ruby glances nervously at the shower before shifting uncertainly.

“Strip.”

Ruby casts her gaze back down to the floor, closing her eyes as she pulls the nightgown up and over her head. She lets it drop from her hands and stands in the bathroom, never opening her eyes.

“Get in the shower.” Adam sighs.

Ruby peeks her eyes open enough to step over the lip of the tub and into the shower. She scurries behind the safety of the curtain and lets out an exhale. The water is lukewarm but heats up quickly. She hears him open the cabinet under the sink and has half a mind to peek around the shower curtain but knows it will only serve to aggravate him more if he catches her in the mirror. Ruby quickly lathers herself in soap, rushing to be finished. Ever since the first night, she doesn’t like to be in the tub when Adam is around. Slicking her hair back from her face, Ruby turns the shower off and gingerly peeks around the shower curtain. Adam has grabbed a towel and offers it to her. Ruby takes it and wraps herself in the towel as she steps out of the shower. When she looks up, her reflection is staring back at her. Startled, Ruby slips against the tile floor as she jerks her face away. Her knees knock against the tub and she grabs onto it so she doesn’t crack her head against the floor. Adam stares down at her in bewilderment.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Ruby bites back the truth, rubbing at the sore spots on her knees. Shakily she stands back up, making sure to keep her eyes trained to the ground.

“Just dizzy.” She mutters.

Adam stands next to her for so long, Ruby begins to thinks he doesn’t believe her. Then he steps out of the bedroom and Ruby follows behind him wordlessly. She sits on the bed and tries not to think about the girl she saw in the mirror. That wasn’t her. Ruby had never been so skinny in her life and she was always a petite girl. She needed to eat, that much was glaringly obvious. Summoning up her courage, Ruby was about to speak when Adam beat her to it.

“You’re soaking the bed, get off.” Adam frowns up at her from where he is reading something on his scroll.

She almost falters at his comment but summons up what little courage she has left.

“Adam, I’m really hungry,” Ruby tries to sound nice.

Adam, without looking at her, points at the space next to him. Ruby stares at his finger for a moment feeling all of her old anger stir up before disappearing as she stands and crosses the short space between them. Sitting down Ruby tries to keep herself from leaning away from his body. Adam puts his scroll back down and looks at her.

“What do you want to eat?”

Ruby can’t stop her brows from raising in surprise. She didn’t think he was going to listen. Adam laughs at her expression. Her cheeks flush and she looks back down at the table.

“I-uh, I don’t know.” She fumbles for an idea.

She had been eating canned food and ration packs for the entire time Adam had held her captive. Now he was asking for her opinon? Before she had a chance to overthink it, Ruby timidly looks back over at him.

“I’d really like some meat. Not canned stuff, but fresh meat like steak or ham or-”, Ruby hesitates, wondering if she’s gone too far.

“Okay,” Adam answers, unbothered, standing up.

Ruby quirks a brow at him. Admittedly, she hadn’t thought he would accept her request so readily.

“Okay?” She echoes.

Adam smirks at her and without a word, turns away and leaves. The lock clicks before she really understands what’s going on. Ruby blinks a few times before a shiver breaks her out of her trance. She’s cold so she wanders over to the bed and crouches down, pulling out a black trash bag. Adam had brought her a few outfits randomly when he had returned one time. Ruby hadn’t dared question where the clothes had come from. She was secretly grateful he had given her permission to wear clothing again and didn’t want to give him a reason to snatch it away. After putting on another fabric dress similar to her nightgown Ruby uses her towel to dry her hair. By the time she finishes the door unlocks and Adam enters with a tray. Ruby’s eyes widen at the sight. There’s a chunk of meat on top of one of the plates and Ruby’s heart jumps.

“Sit at the table and eat,” Adam tells her but she’s already jumping to sit at her usual side.

Noticing how eager she is, he smiles at her reaction but makes no comment. Adam places the tray down, unstacks the extra dishes, and begins portioning the food between them. Ruby’s stomach grumbles loudly and her ears turn red. Adam laughs quietly and starts to cut the steak in half. Ruby stares at it, mouth watering. When Adam slides a plate over to her it takes all of her willpower to not dig into it with her bare hands. She’s afraid Adam will deny her food if she acts too eager. Adam gives her a fork, answering her silent wondering if he was going to make her eat it with her bare hands anyways. Ruby takes it and murmurs her thanks, cutting into the steak first. The meat is soft and tears easily with her fork. She’s almost drooling as she takes the first bite, closing her eyes in bliss. Finally, no more canned food. When she looks down for her next bite Ruby catches Adam staring at her. There’s a half-smile on her face and she shifts uncomfortably under his gaze.

“It’s good?” She offers.

“I suppose it is to you.” Adam quips before taking a bite himself.

Ruby feels her good mood evaporate. Everything with him was an insult or a threat. Ruby was tired of it all. She sighs to herself and continues to eat in silence. It doesn’t strike her as weird until Adam gets up and uses the cup in the bathroom to get water. Ruby had never seen him eat in front of her before. He had been bringing her food back to eat by herself but nothing was ever for him. Ruby watches him take a bite and he pauses chewing when he notices her.

“What?” Adam props his hand up on the table as he questions her.

Ruby shrugs, dropping her gaze. “Nothing.”

Adam puts his fork down and rests his head against his head. Ruby doesn’t know why but him observing her made her deeply uncomfortable.

“Ruby.”

Ruby’s face is almost pained when she turns it to him.

“Come here.” He curls two fingers at her. A smile tugs at his lips.

Ruby finishes chewing slowly, places her fork down, and stands.

“Not that way.” Adam stops her as she rises. Ruby pauses, unsure of what he’s wanting from her.

“Crawl to me, like you did before.” Adam sounds too happy to be humiliating her.

Ruby sinks to her knees and crawls around the table to where he’s sitting. The low table only reaches up to eye level and she ducks her head even lower to hide her face. When she reaches him, Adam smoothes a hand in her hair, tilting her head back. Continuing to pet her, he turns back to the table, picking up the fork and stabbing it into another piece of meat.

“What were you thinking about?” He asks as if making dinner conversation.

Ruby lets her eyes wander instead of answering him. His hand stills on her head. Ruby meets his gaze. Adam twirls the fork in his hand and she speaks before he gets bored and starts thinking of other ways to use the fork.

“You’ve never eaten in front of me before,” Ruby mutters.

Adam stops twirling the fork.

“What?” He laughs. “Who notices something like that?”

Adam holds the fork in front of her mouth.

“Here.”

Ruby opens her mouth, letting him feed her. He’s surprisingly gentle and Ruby chews slowly. Adam stabs another piece of meat and eats it without a word. Ruby regards him warily, scared at how his sour mood from earlier has turned into excessive kindness. Adam is always nice to her before doing something awful.

“What do you do when I’m gone?” Adam speaks after he swallows.

Ruby nervously glances at the book sitting at the corner of the table.

“I read,” She whispers.

Adam hums in response, spearing a vegetable and offering it to her. Ruby takes the bite willing to continue playing his game if he keeps feeding her.

“How do you like being kept as a pet?”

Ruby’s brow twitches but she refrains from answering until Adam looks down at her.

“I don’t want to be here.” She speaks carefully, voice thick. Ruby takes a few deep breaths to keep from getting too emotional.

Adam cuffs her chin with a smile. “Now you’re starting to understand.”

“I don’t get it,” Ruby starts but Adam pushes another bite towards her.

“Slave labor. You’re paying with your body, remember? Lots of Faunus feel the way you do right now. Abused, hungry, hopeless.” Adam explains casually.

Ruby gives him a stricken expression. Surely he understood how this wasn’t right? Her mouth opens to tell him how wrong he is when her words die in her throat. If she argues she’ll likely lose dinner. Ruby holds back her protests and takes the bite. She swallows before him and tries a question of her own.

“Are you mad at me?” She whispers, expecting the worst.

Adam glances at her.

“What makes you think that?” He answers her question with one of his own and Ruby shifts on her knees, uncomfortable.

“You’re just, you’re being so nice.” She shrugs looking anywhere but his face.

“Have you done something to make me not be nice?” Ruby hears a glint in his voice.

She swallows thickly. “No,” she shakes her head.

“I told you before if you behave I won’t have to punish you.” Adam takes a few more bites.

Ruby thinks it’s a little bit different than that. She keeps quiet however and waits for her next bite. Adam reaches across the table and grabs Ruby’s plate and fork. He turns towards Ruby and places her plate on the floor. Ruby stops herself mid-recoil, having half-expected him to toss it at her.

“You can eat down there,” Adam tells her, turning away.

Ruby says nothing, holding in all of her emotions and after a moment, picks up her fork to start eating. She doesn’t know what she’s done to make him angry enough to make her eat on the floor. The rest of their dinner passes in silence. Ruby finishes before Adam, eager to fill up on a good meal. He stacks her plate on his and gathers the silverware. Ruby wonders if this meant they would go to bed now.

“Clean up and then come to bed,” Adam answers her unspoken question, his tone leaving little room for argument.

Ruby scurries into the bathroom and, making sure to not look into the mirror, takes a few calming breaths. Part of her wants to cry at having to go back out to where Adam’s waiting but she knows refusing will only make it so much worse. Ruby turns the water on before Adam can get suspicious and starts washing her hands. Their earlier conversation doesn’t sit well with her. Was all of Adam’s behavior really just to prove how ignorant she had been about the way the Faunus were being forced to live? Ruby truly hadn’t understood before about the depth of their mistreatment and a small part of her wonders if Adam is in the right. Her brow furrows as she turns the water off and dries her hands. The two of them were able to coexist at least somewhat normally if Ruby behaves like he said. And she tries to, she really does, Adam just seems to expect more than she can give him.

Conflicted, Ruby steps out of the bathroom and finds Adam lounging on the bed. Once again, he’s more absorbed by the messages on his scroll than he is with her. It stings, in a strange way. Ruby can’t really understand why she feels provoked every time Adam chooses to ignore her for his scroll. She’s here because he keeps her here so why does he act as if she’s hardly worth his time? Doesn’t Adam understand how he’s all she has right now?

“Why are you standing?”

Ruby snaps her head up to Adam’s gaze. He’s still holding onto his scroll but his attention has shifted to her. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, realizing her emotions must have been written all over her face.

“Adam do you...” Ruby hedges. She isn’t sure if this is something she should be doing right now.

“Do I what?” Adam presses her and Ruby knows she can’t back out now.

“Do you hate me?” She whispers, nervously rubbing the back of her hand.

Adam snorts. “I hate all humans.”

Ruby’s heart drops. Her shoulders slump and she casts her gaze down to the carpet.

“It was a stupid question.” She mutters.

“It was.” Adam agrees.

Ruby purses her lips, tightening her grip on her hand.

“Lay down,” Adam orders her, reaching over to the nightstand.

Ruby slips under the covers next to him and turns away. Adam turns the light off and all goes dark in the room. Shortly after Ruby hears the soft sound of his mask being placed on the nightstand. Ruby has never gotten a chance to see his actual face and while she won’t deny being curious, Adam is unnaturally defensive about it so she never tries to. She swallows hard when she feels Adam shift in the bed. Her heart thumps in her chest as her mind assaults her with images and panicked thoughts. Ruby tries to calm herself by being reasonable. She’s had sex lots of times with Adam. Since coming to this place too, Ruby has been forced to have sex with him over and over. It’s nothing new. She knows what to expect. But when Adam’s grip curls around her arm though, her pulse still spikes. Obediently rolling to face him, Ruby searches the darkness for his face. She twitches when his fingers graze her ear, playing with her hair.

“You should keep it long.” Adam hums, next to her.

Ruby scrunches her face. She doesn’t like it long. It’s hot and unmanageable when she’s training. Besides if Adam likes her hair longer it makes her only dislike it more. After a moment of silence, Adam slides his hand from the side of her head to her shoulder and down to her chest. Ruby bites her lip, hoping to keep quiet. Adam pinches her nipple and she inhales sharply.

“Take this off.” He tugs at the front of her dress.

Ruby sits up and pulls the dress over the top of her head. Adam guides Ruby back down to him, pushing her under his body. She jerks when his hands land on her breasts, kneading them. The touch is soft, unlike him, and she melts into it. Ruby’s body submits before her will does. Adam leans down and bites at her neck, drawing soft cries from her each time. Her hands tearing at the sheets in an effort to restrain themselves fly up to Adam’s shoulders when he grinds his hips into hers. Ruby grips Adam’s shirt out of desperation and anger. She hates him for making her feel this way.  


When Ruby’s hold on his shoulders grows too demanding, Adam flips her over and buries her face into the pillows. There’s an invisible line in their relationship and Adam makes sure she never crosses it. Adam thrusts two fingers inside of her, ripping a groan out of her. Ruby arches with his movements, trying to be disgusted, trying to be angry, but still failing to resist. Adam withdraws his fingers and Ruby tenses her back, preparing for him to enter her. Instead, he flops down next to her. Ruby peeks up from the pillows, confused.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice is small.

Adam yawns. “I’m tired. You do the work tonight.”

Ruby blinks several times in the darkness. Perplexed, she sits up and back on her knees, reaching out to find his body.

“But I don’t know what to do.” She protests against the idea.

Adam scoffs. “You’ve had sex plenty of times, don’t play stupid.”

Ruby tries to think of a better excuse. Adam catches on to her too quickly.

“Do you want to give me a reason to be angry?”

Ruby withers at his question. She shudders at the mental image of him trying to drown her in the tub. With shaking hands, she unbuttons his pants and tugs them down.

“Don’t forget my shirt.” Adam teases her.

Ruby frowns but obeys nonetheless. Slipping his shirt off doesn’t take much effort and she ignores Adam’s pleased sigh as he settles into the bed. The next part isn’t so easy. Ruby swallows back her oncoming nausea and straddles his hips. They’ve never done it like this before. Ruby gingerly grips Adam’s dick underneath her and freezes. She doesn’t know if she can make herself do it. Adam shifts restlessly under her, a silent reminder that she has to do it. Holding her breath, Ruby positions him underneath herself and slowly lowers her hips. Just when she gets the tip in, Adam stops her.

“Wait.”

Ruby, surprised, nervously moves on top of him. “What’s wrong?”

Adam sighs. “You’re too dry. It’s not going to go in.”

Ruby furrows her brow. “What? But it always goes in-”

“Just get yourself wet and then put it in.” Adam brushes her off, his hands coming out of nowhere to pull himself away from her.

Ruby, helpless, hovers over him for a moment. “How do I make myself wet?” She whispers, cringing at her own words.

“Do you not know anything?” Adam’s voice sounds angrier this time and Ruby winces.

Of course not, she wants to yell at him. All of what she knows is what Adam has shown her.

“Make yourself feel good. That’s how you get wet.” He explains to her.

Ruby flushes. She can’t do that! It’s too embarrassing to touch herself in such a way. She’s never even put much thought to it before either.

“C-Can you show me how?” Ruby pleads, gently touching a hand to his stomach.

She feels him heave a breath under her fingers before his hand grabs hers. Ruby closes her eyes when he guides her hand between her legs. Slowly, Adam pushes one of her own smaller fingers inside of her. Ruby whimpers in fear as her finger slides deeper.

“Now move it, yes, and this one rubs here,” Adam tells her, taking her other hand and showing her where to press.

Ruby jerks, surprising herself when she digs into her clit, the sensation sparking a stronger sensation than she expected. Adam removes his hands letting her continue to pleasure herself. Ruby’s own fingers don’t give her the same intensity that Adam does. Somehow they’re too thin, not able to fill her in a way that’s satisfying. It confuses her and she tries to rub harder, pumping her fingers into her until they’re making a wet noise. Adam takes her hands from her suddenly, licking at her soiled fingers. Ruby squeaks, snatching her fingers back.

“What are you doing!” If the light was on, she would be scarlet down her neck too.

Adam chuckles but it sounds much more sinister in nature.

“You should taste yourself too.” Adam grips her wrist. Ruby recoils at the thought of it.

“What if I get sick...” She trails off weakly.

Adam jerks her hand towards her face.

“You won’t. Now, taste.”

With a grimace, Ruby licks her own fingers, embarrassed by how she’s acting. Adam releases her and jerks his hips, jostling her on top of him.

“Put it in now.” He demands.

Ruby presses her hot cheek to her shoulder, slipping down onto Adam much easier than earlier. The stretch she feels isn’t painful in the slightest, instead it fills her with a heat that makes her toes curl. Ruby drops her hands onto Adam’s chest, using it for support as she struggles to breathe. Her body sparks with pleasure and every time she moves her hips Adam grates at the deepest part of her.

“Start moving-”, Adam punctuates his words with a thrust.

Ruby cries out unexpectedly, stilling her body on top of him. 

“I-I,” she tries to explain herself. “It’s too much.”

“What’s too much?” Adam impatiently digs his fingers into her thighs.

Ruby opens and closes her mouth several times. “Y-you.” She finally chokes out, pressing a hand to her mouth.

“If it feels good then say so,” Adam speaks gently, fingers stroking at her thighs.

Ruby shakes as even his soft touch threatens to topple her. With nowhere to go but up she lifts her hips and bites down on her tongue to keep from moaning. Lightly, she moves back down, shallowly thrusting. Adam’s grip on her thighs tightens and he pulls her back down onto him. Ruby squeezes him, a gasp leaving her.

“Adam, I can’t.” She cries, real tears starting to form in her eyes.

“Yes, you can.” He forces her to lift her hips back up.

Ruby lets out a strangled noise when she falls back down on him. She pulls her hands away from him and buries her face in them. She can’t do this. She can’t feel these things and not hold onto who she was. Ruby doesn’t think she can accept what she’s becoming.

“Why are you crying?” Adam murmurs, pulling her arms down.

Ruby shakes her head, sniffling.

“Tell me, Ruby.”

Fresh tears well up and spill from the corners of her eyes.

“I-I don’t want to feel good.” Ruby hiccups.

Adam strokes his hands up her sides in an awful, comforting way.

“Why not?”

Ruby chokes on a small wail. “I can’t. It’s wrong. If I do- I don’t know what’s wrong with me. ”

Adam hums in acknowledgment. “Do you want to know why you feel good Ruby? Even though you don’t want it?”

Ruby wipes her cheeks. “Why?” She whispers.

Adam’s stroking movements stop. “Because, secretly, you do want it. Don’t you? You don’t want to admit it, but you’ll still ask me for it.”

Ruby stares into the darkness. Adam might as well have slapped her. New tears slip down her face.

“No...” She tries to deny it.

With little effort, Adam flips her underneath him. Ruby gasps as he does, suddenly very scared.

“Are you scared? Are you scared I’m right?”

Ruby sobs at his words. “Stop it. You know it’s wrong. You- you hate humans.” Ruby covers her face.

Adam pulls her hands down. “Do you still like it even if I hate you?”

“No, I don’t.“ Ruby grits her teeth.

Adam grips her hips and slides back inside of her easily. Ruby cries out, embarrassed by how wet she is.

“You don’t?” He murmurs, thumbing at her nipple.

Ruby shivers under his touch.

“I can’t.” She grabs his wrist. “I can’t.”

Adam lifts her hips higher and continues to fuck her while speaking.

“You’re a bad liar.” He sighs, quickening his pace.

Ruby tilts her head back, trying to fight all of the urges in her body. She squeezes Adam’s wrist tighter.

“Stop,” she struggles to get the word out.

Adam pinches her nipple. “No.”

Ruby grips the pillow behind her head with her other hand, body steadily growing hotter and hotter. The pleasure is constant now and every one of Adam’s thrusts makes her tighten up.

“Please, stop,” Ruby begs him.

Adam ignores her, suddenly pumping into her so quickly she can’t stop herself from being loud. Her stomach tenses and she arches her back. Ruby clutches him desperately. Adam slows down after a few moments when Ruby’s trembling underneath him and gasping.

“You don’t like it?” He asks her again, rubbing slow circles around her clit.

Ruby can’t trust herself to speak. Adam starts a gentle pace to accompany him pleasuring her as if he’s trying to find the best way to break her down. Ruby isn’t thinking rationally anymore. Lust fills the entirety of her being. She wants the release of submission.

“No,” she wails, to herself mostly.

Ruby clenches around Adam repeatedly and when she notices how close she is, she panics.

“Stop, please, stop, I don’t want-” Ruby rushes out, trying to push his hands off of her but Adam is stronger. He holds her wrists together and stops moving, focusing on pressing harder against her clit. Ruby writhes underneath him, alternating between struggling to get away and responding to him. Her moaning increases in pitch until she’s echoing in the room, tears squeezing out of her eyes as she orgasms. Body stiffening under him, Ruby rides wave after wave of pleasure helplessly. Only once she starts to come down, voice quieting, does Adam stop thumbing at her clit and release her wrists.

Ruby blearily feels him pull out of her and is dazed when he turns her onto her stomach. He enters from behind her and she groans into the pillow. Adam starts a hard pace, hips slapping against her. Ruby pushes her hips back into him, hating and loving how good it feels. Adam grips the back of her neck tightly, the other hand holding her hips in place. All of a sudden he becomes too rough, his thrusting spearing deep enough inside it sends a sharp pain through her stomach. Ruby tries to speak but the grip he has on her neck keeps her face down in the sheets. Adam groans unnaturally loud behind her, his hand on her hip methodically squeezing. She shivers at his possessiveness, unsure of how it makes her feel. She reflexively feels herself clench him in response as if asking him to stay this deep inside of her. Adam slips out of her after a moment and Ruby falls to her side.

Panting, sweat trickles down her brow and she hears Adam walk to the bathroom. Her body is humming with deep satisfaction and Ruby does her best to ignore it. She wants to forget what just happened. Adam comes back and gets in the bed, turning his back to her. Ruby closes her eyes and focuses on calming her breathing. Without noticing, she slips into sleep.

Ruby wakes up at some point before Adam with an awful stomachache. She sits up, trying to breathe through her nose, but the feeling doesn’t ebb. Suddenly, Ruby is scrambling out of the bed, waking Adam, and bolting for the bathroom. She makes it to the toilet and throws up her dinner. She doesn’t have the time to think of what Adam will do or how upset he will be. Ruby is sick until her stomach is empty. Cheeks flushed and body trembling, she leans against the wall with her eyes closed.

“What’s going on with you?” Ruby peeks an eye open to see Adam standing in front of her. She can’t tell what he’s thinking and his voice is deceptively neutral. She squints when he flicks the bathroom light on.

“I probably ate too much.” Ruby lies, taking some toilet paper and wiping her mouth with it.

She doesn’t know why, but she’s scared of telling him she’s been hiding her sickness from him for a while now. Maybe because she’s also scared of what that means for her. Ruby stands up and hovers in front of Adam. She glances at his face anxiously.

“I’ll feel better after I sleep.” She promises.

Part of her is also confused about why Adam seems to have such an interest. If she dies then it’s all for the better right? The thought alone makes her stomach twist again. Adam appears to let it go and leaves the bathroom. Ruby brushes her teeth before turning off the light and joining him in bed.

* * *

Adam leaves at what Ruby assumes is the same time every day afterward. She continues to get sick after he’s left and he comes back to her asleep on the table with a book. He doesn’t ask her what she wants to eat and Ruby’s too afraid to suggest anything. She accepts what he brings without complaint and tries not to cry in front of him when he points out her thickening stomach. A short amount of time goes by like this until Ruby worsens.

She’s still curled over the toilet when Adam returns. Ruby feels cold fear plunge through her when she hears the door. She waits silently in the bathroom until he turns the lights on in search of her. When Adam spots her, his mouth tightens.

“I knew you were lying.” His fists clench at his sides.

Ruby considers denying the truth. But she’s staring at him with wide eyes, frozen to the spot, and knows it’s no use.

“No, I don’t feel well today.” She mutters, dreading what comes next.

Adam walks over and kneels down, turning her face back towards him when she looks away.

“Tell me the truth.”

Ruby swallows. “I-it’s true, I don’t feel well today...”, she trails off.

“How long have you been sick?” Adam questions.

“Since the cabin,” Ruby cringes.

Adam’s mouth parts slightly, if in shock or surprise, she doesn’t know, but it quickly turns into anger.

“Why did you hide it?” He demands, shaking her.

Ruby cowers away from him, holding her hands up.

“I was scared!” She confesses, “I was scared you’d be mad. Or that you’d kill me.”

Ruby glances at his face. Adam stares at her a moment longer before releasing her.

“But you were okay dying like this? Starving because you can’t keep anything down?” Adam snarls at her.

“As long as it’s not by my hand, right?” His voice is acidic.

Ruby’s face is creased with terror. Everything he says makes her fears worse.

“No, I don’t want to die.” Ruby whispers.

“Then why are you trying to?” Adam grits out, hand flying up to squeeze her throat.

Ruby whimpers, eyes fluttering closed. She can still breathe, but the threat is still there.

“I’m not.” Ruby pleads, slightly opening her eyes. “I-I don’t want to become useless. I thought once you found out you’d hurt me. I’m not trying to die.”

Ruby’s chest heaves as she tries to not cry. Adam loosens his grip on her throat but doesn’t let go.

“You need to see a doctor.” He tells her sounding much calmer.

Ruby studies what she can see of his face, gauging his reaction.

“Do I have to leave then?” She asks, voice small.

“No.” Adam stands up abruptly.

Ruby looks up at him.

“I’ll bring someone here.” Ruby’s mouth opens in shock. “But if you misbehave,” Adam continues, stressing his next words, “I will make you regret it.”

Ruby nods mutely. Adam turns his back on her and leaves the bathroom. Ruby watches him go, concerned, and jumps when she hears him slam the door. A slow exhale leaves her and she takes a moment to find the strength to stand. Ruby takes a shower and brushes her teeth until the taste of puke is gone. She’s incredibly tired afterward and lays down on the bed. After a few minutes of her lying there, she hears a pair of footsteps outside of the door. Alarmed, Ruby sits up, fisting the sheets in her hand. Terror begins to creep up on her. What was she supposed to do? The last thing she wants is to bring down Adam’s wrath on her but she also can’t quite trust Adam to have her best intentions in mind. 

The door opens and Ruby stands up, preparing herself. Adam enters and behind him follows a much smaller woman. She’s obviously a faunus, with cute horns curling out of her golden hair. Ruby stares at the woman, confused and scared. The woman’s warm brown eyes meet Ruby’s, a soft smile on her face. Ruby swallows nervously, unable to bring herself to smile back. The last female member of the White Fang Ruby had met had not only threatened her with a knife but dragged Ruby by her hair.

“Ruby, this is Camille. Camille, this is my girlfriend.” Adam introduces the two of them, sounding more pleasant than she had ever heard before.

Ruby casts Adam an alarmed look. Adam is staring back at her, mouth pressed into a line. Swallowing, Ruby looks back over to the woman who folds her hands in front of her. Ruby notices she isn’t wearing the usual White Fang uniform.

“Hello Ruby, it’s nice to meet you. Adam told me you’ve been feeling sick lately.” Camille sits down at the table and gestures for Ruby to do the same.

Ruby glances at Adam and sits when he does. Camille chuckles at Ruby’s reaction.

“She’s quiet.” Camille comments.

Adam smiles back at Camille. “She’s shy. Ruby, say hi to Camille.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ruby murmurs, still unsure of what’s going to happen to her. She keeps her arms in her lap in an effort to be as small as possible.

“So, Ruby,” Camille starts, placing her folded hands on the table, “What exactly has been bothering you?”

Ruby gives Camille a wary glance. She knows the other woman isn’t joking but it certainly feels like it. Everything about this situation was bothering her. She hadn’t seen her family for so long they thought she was dead! Adam is cruel and hits her. Ruby wants to spill everything to Camille, but if Adam brought her, she can’t be trusted. His earlier promise to make her regret misbehaving is still at the forefront of her thoughts.

“I’m fine, really.” Ruby shrugs, avoiding Camille and Adam’s gaze.

The room suddenly feels too small for Ruby to breathe. Camille’s face turns sympathetic.

“I know you don’t want to worry anyone but we can’t help you if you don’t tell us.” Camille leans onto the table.

Ruby sees Adam staring at her in the corner of her eye. She’s nervous that if she doesn’t speak up soon he’s going to burst.

“I’ve been getting sick lately...” Ruby hedges.

“For 2 months,” Adam interjects.

A chill comes over Ruby. Over two months had passed? Camille’s face draws in worry. She glances between the two of them.

“Ruby, you’ve been sick for two months? Why on earth would you hide that?” Camille gasps.

Ruby swallows. “I, uh,” She glances at Adam, “Didn’t want to worry anyone.”

Camille shakes her head, frowning.

“Ruby you can’t be so irresponsible. You have to take care of yourself. Do you want to worry those who love you? You’ve been sick for two months, what else? And be honest.” Camille tries to be stern but her kind face betrays her.

Ruby grimaces at Camille’s words. It’s not her fault, she wants to tell her. Adam doesn’t love her, he wants to torture her. Helpless, Ruby fishes for an explanation.

“It’s just the morning sickness, really.” Ruby insists.

Camille’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline.

“Morning sickness?” She echoes.

Ruby rubs her arms nervously. “Yeah, but it goes away quickly. And I think I’m just bloated cause-” Ruby stops herself.

If she had told Camille Adam had been feeding her ration packs and canned food for two months Ruby knew he would put her three feet into the ground.

“Uh, cause, I like to eat salt.” Ruby finishes dumbly.

Camille is staring at Ruby with a pensive expression. Unnerved, Ruby glances at Adam, but he’s not looking at her, just tapping his fingers on the table. Ruby fights to keep her face neutral.

“Ruby,” Camille starts slowly, “When was the last time you had your period?”

Ruby blinks at Camille. Ruby thinks back to the cabin and then before that. Slowly, the color starts to drain from her face.

“I-uh, what are you, I’m not,” Ruby fumbles, suddenly turning to stare at Adam in horror and fear.

Adam, noticing her expression, looks to Camille. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong with her?”

Camille rolls her eyes. “Adam don't play stupid. She’s pregnant, obviously.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say we are about halfway through the story!


End file.
